In a career spanning 70 years, composer, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist David Amram is hailed today as the creator of symphonic works, chamber music, and two operas; as a brilliant jazz and vocal improviser; and the composer of memorable stage and film scores. He has collaborated with many leading musicians, playwrights, artists, actors, and writers, including Jack Kerouac, Woody Guthrie, Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Elmira Darvarova, Paul Newman, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, and hundreds more. An innovator who blended jazz and global folk styles with classical traditions, Amram’s career also emphasizes the creative potential of joyful collaboration. This new book offers a fascinating and wide-ranging picture of Amram’s work and influence, from the rich, pioneering days of 1950s America to today’s embrace of international cultures. It shows how Amram’s gift as an on-stage spontaneous creator enriches his formal classical composing. With multi-media links for readers, it is possible to see and hear film and audio highlights and adventures described in this book by important conductors, musicians, performers, scholars, and journalists. This book is the essential guide to a major figure in contemporary music.

Part I: Introductions

2. How to Explain David Amram? by Dean Birkenkamp
4. "All Joy" An Introduction to the Life-Artistry of David Amram, by Gary Lippman

5. Part II: David Amram’s Symphonic and Chamber Compositions

6. Amram’s Concert Hall Compositions, by Dean Birkenkamp
8. David Amram’s Chamber Music, by Elmira Darvarova
10. Premiering New Amram Compositions, by Kenneth Radnofsky
12. This Land: Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie, by Laura Schulkind
14. Sir James Galway: Commissioning and Premiering Giants of the Night, by Keith Marshall
16. Conducting Amram’s Violin Concerto, by JoAnn Falletta
18. Letting an Orchestra Feel Free and Inspired: The Art of Amram’s Conducting, by Howard Wall
20. A Promising Old Composer: The Power of Creativity in Later Life, by John Leland
22. Beethoven to Boxing: Artistry in Two Worlds, by Larry Merchant

23. Part III: Opera and Theater Contributions of David Amram

24. From Theater to Opera, by Dean Birkenkamp
26. David Amram: A Jewish Life in Music: The Final Ingredient and other Important Compositions, by Jeff Janeczko
28. The Essence of David Amram, by Keir Dullea
30. Remembering the Premiere of Amram’s Opera Twelfth Night, by Christopher Alden and David Alden
32. Filming Twelfth Night, by Lawrence Kraman

33. Part IV: Amram the Jazz Performer and Composer

34. A Lifetime in Jazz, by Dean Birkenkamp
36. David Amram’s Early Jazz Years and Collaborations, by Marc Myers
38. Amram and Cuba: Varieties of Afro-Cuban and Latin Musics, by Arturo O’Farrill
40. Innovations: Jamming with Amram Across the Decades, by Mark Morganelli
42. David Amram is a Musical Instrument, by Malachy McCourt
44. Now is the Time as Creative Manifestation of Consciousness,

45. by Hugh Ragin

46. No More Walls: The Ever-Wider World of David Amram, by David Cole

47. Part V: The Songs of David Amram

48. From Orchestral Compositions to Spontaneous Lyrics, by Dean Birkenkamp
50. A Composer’s Way with Words, by Hassan Melehy
52. The Songs of David Amram: Jazz, Classical, Film, and Operatic Compositions, by Gerald Bieritz
54. Scat and Make-Up Songs: The Art of One-Time Only Rap Reporting, by David Amram
56. Bourbon is Vegetarian, By Kurt Elling and David Amram

57. Part VI: The Whole Wide World of Amram’s Folk Performance

58. Performing the World’s Music, by Dean Birkenkamp
59. Melding Folk and Symphonic: Commissioning This Land, by Nora Guthrie
61. Remembering Odetta: 40 Years of Midnight Adventures, with Kris Kristofferson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Others, by David Amram

63. Peforming Folk Music in Many Venues, by John McEuen

65. The Dean of Hangout-ology at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, by Deana McCloud
67. A Unique Performer in the Folk World, by Barry Ollman
69. Musical Adventures with David Amram, by Radoslav Lorkovic
71. David Amram Doesn’t Play Music, by John Cooper

72. Part VII: Amram the Author—and His Collaborations with Writers

73. David Amram’s Literary Endeavors, by Dean Birkenkamp
75. Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, David Amram, by Ronald Martinetti
77. Let Us Remember: Review of the Cantata by Langston Hughes and David Amram, by Paul Hertelendy
79. Vibrations, Musical Differences, Life with Others, by Charles Lemert
81. On Amram’s Book Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat, by Frank McCourt
83. "Life is Even More Fun at 90" Amram and the Kerouac Legacy, by Holly George Warren

84. Part VIII: Hollywood and Beyond: Amram’s Film Scores

85. From the Village to Hollywood, by Dean Birkenkamp
87. Frankenheimer, Sinatra, and the Scoring of The Manchurian Candidate, by Neil Hickey
89. The Manchurian Candidate: The Novel, the Film, the Music, by Geoff Wills
91. Cinema’s Elusive Musical Poet: Scoring Splendor in the Grass, by Steve Vertlieb

92. Part IX: Amram’s Legacy: Mixing Musical Styles and Performance Traditions

93. Hearing a Singular Sound in the Universe, by Dean Birkenkamp
95. Amram’s Musical Bouillabaisse, by Larry Kirwan
97. At Home Around the World, by David Amram
99. David Amram and Native American Musical Performance, by Matoaka Little Eagle
101. Native Flutes and Friendship, by Louis Mofsie
103. Diamonds in the Sidewalk: Kerouac, Amram, and the Bells of Hell, by Robin Hirsch
105. The Village and the Man Who Makes It Live On, By Elizabeth Thomson
107. An Icon of Inclusion and Pioneer of World Music, by Douglas Brinkley

108. Part X: Coda

109. You are Only as Old as You Make Other People Feel, by David Amram