From Dizzy to Willie to Kerouac, David Amram has played with ’em all; he’s at the Palladium with John McEuen

If you don’t know the name David Amram, it may be because this master musician and composer is simply too talented. In a career that spans the 1950s to the present day Amram has been a musical chameleon, moving easily through jazz, classical, film scores, bluegrass, folk, world music and beat poetry.

 

His list of musical and poetic playmates include Leonard Bernstein  (who chose him as The New York Philharmonic’s first composer-in-residence in 1966), to jazz masters like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, to musicians and writers like Willie Nelson, Langston Hughes, Pete Seeger, Steve Martin, and his Greenwich Village buddy, Jack Kerouac. Along the way, he composed the scores for classic films including The Manchurian Candidate and Splendor in the Grass, written operas and conducted major symphonies around the world.

 

With Kerouac and his other beat poet buddies – Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg – Amram played jazz while the poets recited their work – basically inventing a new art form.

 

And approaching his 83^rd birthday, Amram shows no signs of slowing down. He’s coming to St. Petersburg to play a Palladium Side Door concert with his longtime musical buddy, John McEuen, founder of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The show will feature banjo, guitar, piano and other instruments. Amram is one of the world’s top French horn players.

 

His connection to McEuen started long before they ever met. He played in an Army band in the 1950s with Vassar Clements, who would go on to be a much-celebrated Nashville fiddler. Clements was one of the musicians who joined McEuen and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on the now-classic sessions for the album – Will The Circle Be Unbroken.

 

When Amram was invited to Nashville to conduct the symphony there in the early 90s, Clements thought he should meet McEuen. That meeting led to a concert tour featuring Amram, Clements and McEuen. They called the group – Three Jammin’ Gents.

 

“Since then,” Amram said, “whenever John is playing with 50 miles of New York City, I join him for the show.”

 

One of those shows was in Woodstock – the famous Rambles organized by Levon Helm. It led to a long musical relationship between Amram and Helm.

 

“Through John I’ve had so many terrific times. When we did my big 80th birthday, he came and played. When I play with him I always feel good for a week afterwards – just like I did when I was playing with Willie (Nelson) or Dizzy (Gillespie),’ Amram told me from his apartment in New York.

 

I asked him how he was able to move easily between so many different musical genres.

 

“The beautiful thing of music is, if you can enter into someone else’s world, the way you would visit their home – following the great mantra: “Less is more and when in doubt, leave it out” – you can play with almost anybody in the world in any genre.”

 

Amram is a delightful guy to interview and there are a lot more stories to tell. I’ll sharing them in future blog posts this week and next so stay tuned. I’ll also be interviewing John McEuen, who recently moved to our area.

 

David Amram appears in concert with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founder John McEuen, in the Palladium’s intimate Side Door Cabaret on Friday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. For tickets and information, visit www.mypalladium.org.