David Amram: Farm Aid Friend and American Original

In 2008 I made a wonderful connection with David Amram at Farm Aid. David graciously granted me an interview for my radio show in which I discovered he had been a family farmer in his youth and during the years that he raised his children. Annually, Willie Nelson’s pal would call into my radio show to promote his appearances in Lowell, MA for the Jack Kerouac Festival. Kerouac and Amram were great friends and musical collaborators for more than a decade prior to Kerouac’s passing. In 2011 David updated my audience on the release of the film, “David Amram, the First 80 Years”. Anyone familiar with David Amram understands the tongue in cheek movie title which indicates that Amram has every intention of producing his art and delivering it to the masses for years to come.

Now 87 years young, Amram continues to compose music while traveling the world as a conductor, soloist, bandleader, visiting scholar, and narrator in five languages. He has composed more than 100 orchestral and chamber music works; numerous scores for Broadway theater and film; two operas, and the score for the landmark 1959 documentary “Pull My Daisy”, narrated by novelist Jack Kerouac. He is a pioneer player of jazz French horn as well as a virtuoso on piano, flutes and whistles, percussion, and dozens of folkloric instruments. Amram has collaborated with Langston Hughes, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Depp, Willie Nelson, Thelonious Monk, Odetta, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, Tito Puente and Leonard Bernstein, who chose him as The New York Philharmonic's first composer-in-residence in 1966. Currently, David is composing and orchestrating the last movement of PARTNERS: A Double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra.

PARTNERS contains 3 movements where the first focuses on idioms inclusive of English, Irish and Scottish folk music as well as Native American chants. Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger served as Amram’s Partners in the inaugural movement. The second movement is rooted in jazz and Amram cites Lester Young and Billie Holliday both as inspirational partners. The final movement is a tip of the hat to the Afro-Cuban collaborations between Machito and Celia Cruz with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Amram reflected, “Composing this new double concerto has been especially gratifying because I was lucky enough to have known all the people I chose to honor in this piece. They all took the time to be gracious and supportive to young upcoming musicians and composers. In the 50s, when I came to New York City, I was one of those young people whom they took the time to mentor and encourage.” Partners debuts December 12, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan while four more orchestras have scheduled the work into their programs for 2019.

I eagerly inquired of David why he had remained engaged in Farm Aid for so many years. His reply was resolute, “Farm Aid honors the spirit, the work ethic and the true community sense that farming and farmers are all about. The values of the family farmers create mental and spiritual nourishment to everyone, just as what they grow, and harvest does. Carolyn Mugar at Farm Aid and her staff of devoted people work 24/7 all year long to make Farm Aid one of the most enduring organizations of our time. The Farm Aid organization helps those who feed us to find a way to survive. Carolyn Mugar, Glenda Yoder and all those who work day and night for our family farmers are truly heroic.

In 2017 David was honored for greater than 30 years of dedication to Farm Aid. Amram dons his straw Stetson, Native American jewelry and blue jeans every summer to entertain and educate. He’s been involved so long in his shared mission with Willie Nelson I was curious if he and Willie still discussed the plight of the family farmer from time to time. David told me, “Willie and I know that this work we do for Farm Aid is an honor and a privilege. We are both happy that the situation for family farmers is better today than it was thirty some years ago, and that we have another lifetime of work ahead of us to ensure that it keeps getting better! We talk about the example that the family farmers set for all of us. The Farm Aid concerts remind us that we all need to have healthy food to eat, pure water to drink and clean air to breathe and that we must always remind families and neighbors to honor our stewards of the land. Willie sets the example every time he plays music. He reminds all of us lucky enough to play with him that we are at Farm Aid for a reason and that the reward is being able to be part of something greater than all of us. The musicians who share their talents at Farm Aid honor the unsung heroes who work so hard to keep us healthy and alive.”

Please explore these related links:

Texas Flood (Farm Aid 25 with Willie, Nelson, Lukas Nelson & David Amram) https://youtu.be/SUSw6iXbVEc

Milk Cow Blues (Farm Aid Finale)

https://youtu.be/twhqjIz9Q9Q

www.davidamram.com

www.farmaid.org

About Jim Carty: Mr. Carty has produced and hosted blues, jazz and American roots radio shows in Boston and Pittsburgh. He booked legendary acts such as Jay Geils, Big Jack Johnson, Ronnie Earl, Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin to name a few. As a concert producer he has worked with members of the Allman Brothers, Guns and Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bad Company, Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Kiss and many others. Jim was proudly tapped as the host of the Centennial Celebration of the Blues at Tanglewood. He spent several years as an Old Lyme resident in his youth and he has recently returned home to the Connecticut Shoreline.