The Many Worlds of David Amram

Dean Birkenkamp has worked for 44 years in book publishing. Currently he is a Senior Editor with Routledge Publishers. He was the Founder and President of Paradigm Publishers, where he and his staff were fortunate to publish more than 800 books by leading scholars, journalists, musicians, and public intellectuals. An amateur pianist, he studied anthropology and music theory and composition at the University of Illinois—Champagne-Urbana. His previous book is Uncommon Sense from the Writings of Howard Zinn, with Howard Zinn and Wanda Rhudy.

Part I: Introductions






How to Explain David Amram? by Dean Birkenkamp



"All Joy" An Introduction to the Life-Artistry of David Amram, by Gary Lippman
Part II: David Amram’s Symphonic and Chamber Compositions




Amram’s Concert Hall Compositions, by Dean Birkenkamp



David Amram’s Chamber Music, by Elmira Darvarova



Premiering New Amram Compositions, by Kenneth Radnofsky



This Land: Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie, by Laura Schulkind



Sir James Galway: Commissioning and Premiering Giants of the Night, by Keith Marshall



Conducting Amram’s Violin Concerto, by JoAnn Falletta



Letting an Orchestra Feel Free and Inspired: The Art of Amram’s Conducting, by Howard Wall



A Promising Old Composer: The Power of Creativity in Later Life, by John Leland



Beethoven to Boxing: Artistry in Two Worlds, by Larry Merchant
Part III: Opera and Theater Contributions of David Amram




From Theater to Opera, by Dean Birkenkamp



David Amram: A Jewish Life in Music: The Final Ingredient and other Important Compositions, by Jeff Janeczko



The Essence of David Amram, by Keir Dullea



Remembering the Premiere of Amram’s Opera Twelfth Night, by Christopher Alden and David Alden



Filming Twelfth Night, by Lawrence Kraman
Part IV: Amram the Jazz Performer and Composer




A Lifetime in Jazz, by Dean Birkenkamp



David Amram’s Early Jazz Years and Collaborations, by Marc Myers



Amram and Cuba: Varieties of Afro-Cuban and Latin Musics, by Arturo O’Farrill



Innovations: Jamming with Amram Across the Decades, by Mark Morganelli



David Amram is a Musical Instrument, by Malachy McCourt



Now is the Time as Creative Manifestation of Consciousness,
by Hugh Ragin




No More Walls: The Ever-Wider World of David Amram, by David Cole
Part V: The Songs of David Amram




From Orchestral Compositions to Spontaneous Lyrics, by Dean Birkenkamp



A Composer’s Way with Words, by Hassan Melehy



The Songs of David Amram: Jazz, Classical, Film, and Operatic Compositions, by Gerald Bieritz



Scat and Make-Up Songs: The Art of One-Time Only Rap Reporting, by David Amram



Bourbon is Vegetarian, By Kurt Elling and David Amram
Part VI: The Whole Wide World of Amram’s Folk Performance




Performing the World’s Music, by Dean Birkenkamp
Melding Folk and Symphonic: Commissioning This Land, by Nora Guthrie



Remembering Odetta: 40 Years of Midnight Adventures, with Kris Kristofferson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Others, by David Amram



Peforming Folk Music in Many Venues, by John McEuen





The Dean of Hangout-ology at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, by Deana McCloud



A Unique Performer in the Folk World, by Barry Ollman



Musical Adventures with David Amram, by Radoslav Lorkovic



David Amram Doesn’t Play Music, by John Cooper
Part VII: Amram the Author—and His Collaborations with Writers




David Amram’s Literary Endeavors, by Dean Birkenkamp



Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, David Amram, by Ronald Martinetti



Let Us Remember: Review of the Cantata by Langston Hughes and David Amram, by Paul Hertelendy



Vibrations, Musical Differences, Life with Others, by Charles Lemert



On Amram’s Book Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat, by Frank McCourt



"Life is Even More Fun at 90" Amram and the Kerouac Legacy, by Holly George Warren
Part VIII: Hollywood and Beyond: Amram’s Film Scores




From the Village to Hollywood, by Dean Birkenkamp



Frankenheimer, Sinatra, and the Scoring of The Manchurian Candidate, by Neil Hickey



The Manchurian Candidate: The Novel, the Film, the Music, by Geoff Wills



Cinema’s Elusive Musical Poet: Scoring Splendor in the Grass, by Steve Vertlieb
Part IX: Amram’s Legacy: Mixing Musical Styles and Performance Traditions




Hearing a Singular Sound in the Universe, by Dean Birkenkamp



Amram’s Musical Bouillabaisse, by Larry Kirwan



At Home Around the World, by David Amram



David Amram and Native American Musical Performance, by Matoaka Little Eagle



Native Flutes and Friendship, by Louis Mofsie



Diamonds in the Sidewalk: Kerouac, Amram, and the Bells of Hell, by Robin Hirsch



The Village and the Man Who Makes It Live On, By Elizabeth Thomson



An Icon of Inclusion and Pioneer of World Music, by Douglas Brinkley
Part X: Coda




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