David Amram

• Name — David Amram • Birth Name — David Werner Amram III • Born — 17 November 1930 • Birthplace — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Genre — Jazz, classical, folk • Occupation — * Musician • composer • conductor • author • Instrument — French horn, piano • Website — davidamram.com

Amram was born in Philadelphia, the son of legal scholar Philip Werner Amram. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1948–1949, and earned a bachelor's degree in European history from George Washington University in 1952. In 1955 he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied under Dimitri Mitropoulos, Vittorio Giannini, and Gunther Schuller. Under Schuller he studied French horn.

In a 2007 interview, he observed: "The pennywhistle is a versatile instrument. Just as a violin can be used for either classical or bluegrass, the pennywhistle can be used different ways. Audiences in Kenya enjoyed it when I went there for the World Council of Churches and played African music in 1976. Dizzy Gillespie dug how I used the pennywhistle as a jazz instrument when I played with him in Havana in 1977." In his 1968 book Vibrations, he describes making an omelette for Charlie Parker with "fried onions, marmalade, maple syrup, bacon, tomatoes, covered with hot mayonnaise with some garlic fried in it and a little cheese sauce", saying they "wolfed down portions of it" with borscht and orange soda. Amram is mentioned in the popular children's song "Peanut Butter Sandwich" by Raffi, in the line "one for me and one for David Amram", a fact which Amram said "impressed" his children; Raffi later admitted that he had mentioned Amram because he "couldn't think of anything [else] to rhyme with 'jam'."

• The Eastern Scene (Decca, 1957) • The Young Savages (Columbia, 1961) • The Arrangement (Warner Bros., 1969) • No More Walls (RCA, 1971) • Subway Night (RCA Victor, 1973) • Triple Concerto for Woodwind, Brass, Jazz Quintets and Orchestra (RCA, 1974) • Summer Nights/Winter Rain (RCA Victor, 1976) • Havana/New York (Flying Fish, 1978) • At Home/Around the World (Flying Fish, 1980) • Autobiography (Flying Fish, 1982) • Latin-Jazz Celebration (Elektra/Musician, 1983) • Live at Musikfest! (New Chamber Music, 1990) • An American Original (Newport Classic, 1993) • On the Waterfront On Broadway (Varèse Sarabande, 1995) • Three Concertos (Newport Classic, 1995) • The Final Ingredient (Premier, 1996) • The Manchurian Candidate (Premier, 1997) • Southern Stories (Chrome, 1999) • So in America: Selected Chamber Music Compositions 1958–2017 (Affetto, 2018)

• Pepper Adams, Modern Jazz Survey 2/Baritones & French Horns (Prestige, 1957) • Richard Barone, Sorrows & Promises (Ship to Shore, 2017) • David Bromberg, David Bromberg (Columbia, 1971) • Betty Carter, Betty Carter (Verve, 1990) • Kenny Dorham, Blue Spring (Riverside, 1959) • Kenny Dorham, Kenny Dorham and Friends (Jazzland, 1962) • Fireships, Fireships (Revelator Music, 2015) • Curtis Fuller, Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes with French Horns (Status, 1965) • Steve Goodman, Say It in Private (Asylum, 1977) • Steve Goodman, Artistic Hair (Red Pajama, 1983) • Steve Goodman, The Easter Tapes (Red Pajama, 1996) • Lionel Hampton, Crazy Rhythm (EmArcy, 1955) • Lionel Hampton, Jam Session in Paris (EmArcy, 1955) • Steve Martin, The Crow (Rounder, 2009) • Mat Mathews, 4 French Horns Plus Rhythm (Elektra, 1957) • John McEuen, Roots Music Made in Brooklyn (Chesky, 2016) • T. S. Monk, Monk On Monk (N2K Encoded Music, 1997) • Oscar Pettiford, In Hi-Fi (ABC-Paramount, 1956) • Oscar Pettiford, Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi Vol. Two (ABC-Paramount, 1958) • Sal Salvador, Colors in Sound (Decca, 1958) • Pete Seeger, Tomorrow's Children (Appleseed, 2010) • Rosalie Sorrels, What Ever Happened to the Girl That Was (Paramount, 1973) • Kate Taylor, Kate Taylor (Columbia, 1978) • Happy Traum, Just for the Love of It (Lark's Nest Music, 2015) • Loudon Wainwright III, Album III (Columbia, 1972) • Jerry Jeff Walker, Too Old to Change (Elektra, 1979) • Mary Lou Williams, Music for Peace (Mary, 1970) • Mary Lou Williams, Mary Lou's Mass (Mary, 1975)