David Amram at Folk Alliance 2016

David Amram is a longtime classical and jazz composer that once held a spot in Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton’s bands. He’s collaborated with a wide variety of musicians, written movie and TV scores as well as conducted symphonies for much of his career. Amram is the author of three memoirs all published by Paradigm-Routledge Press, Nine Lives of a Musical Cat (2009), Collaborating With Kerouac (2005) and the highly acclaimed Vibrations (1968, 2007). His archive of professional and personal papers were recently acquired by the Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts Branch of the New York Public Library. And, he was recently the subject of the full length feature documentary David Amram: The First Eighty Years, which is available on Vimeo On Demand.
In 2011, Amram was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame as recipient of the The Jay McShann Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013 he was presented with Clearwater’s Pete and Toshi Seeger Annual Power of Song Award. And in 2015, The Theater For The New City honored him with their annual Love and Courage Award. In recognition of his enormous achievements and continuing contributions to the cultural life of New York, Brooklyn College presented David Amram with an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts.