Video: David Amram and The Amigos Band perform “The California Blues” in honor of Woody Guthrie
David Amram
In this video, Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Famer David Amram talks about meeting Oklahoma music icon Woody Guthrie in 1956 and then joins The Amigos Band in a new rendition of “The California Blues,” a Jimmie Rodgers classic with additional lyrics by Guthrie and Sam Reider.
A regular at Okemah’s Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, Amram has written many scores for Broadway and film, including the scores for the movies “Splendor in The Grass” and “The Manchurian Candidate”; two operas, including the groundbreaking Holocaust opera “The Final Ingredient”; and the score for the landmark 1959 cult classic short film “Pull My Daisy,” narrated by Jack Kerouac. Recognized as a pioneering French horn player and world music ambassador, Amram was Leonard Bernstein’s choice as the first composer-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic.
Amram was commissioned in 2007 to compose “Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie,” and he has played WoodyFest the past several years.
Amram recently has been added to the list of confirmed WoodyFest 2013 performers, along with Audrey Auld, Garrett LeBeau, Rebecca Loebe and Griffin House, according www.woodyfest.com.
Previously announced performers include Okemah-area Grammy nominee John Fullbright, Jimmy LaFave, Ellis Paul, Trout Fishing in America, Annie Guthrie, Don Conoscenti, Sam Baker, Joel Rafael, The Burns Sisters, Vance Gilbert, Ramsay Midwood, Ronny Elliott and Tim Easton.
Set in Guthrie’s hometown, the festival takes place annually around the July 14 birthday of the Oklahoma music icon. This year’s festival is set for July 10-14.
-BAM
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