Customer Reviews

No More Walls

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I bought the vinyl when it was first released and hunted down another after I loaned/lost my original to a "friend." Amram discovered and incorporated Brazilian sounds long before Paul Simon or David Byrne. "Pull My Daisy" evokes the NY coffee house scene of the Beats. His eclectic style is demonstrated on "Wind from the Indies" - it's a combo of West Indian rhythms and Irish and Bombay flutes he plays with a Yugoslav folk technique he learned in Paris. "Brazilian Memories" stems from a 1969 jam session with Bob Dylan at the beach. How cool is that?

If you are a homo-sapiens you will probably enjoy this album of great works by one of music's truly greatest people... I kid you NOT!! This is the real thing. Believe me, please!! SO many people who know David will frequently reference Ludwig Von Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, and/or Bob Marley.. in trying to describe his overall musical genius.. I prefer to refer to the man's recordings and live performances... Dig 'em!!!!

Back in the 70s I chanced upon David Amram at Wolftrap Center, I lived nearby, I went to his concert without any forethought about who he is or what his music was like. I was captivated, enjoyed his music, bought the record LP and got my money's worth from it. Even a friend of mine who was a prodigy remarked on it favorably years later. (the Sao Paulo song). Like many kids I was also into the legacy of Jack Kerouac and the Beatniks, here, on stage was some connection to that already past era. (There is an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, which no doubt will move around the country that shows a picture Alan took w/ Jack and David in the shot) He not only played but conversed with the crowd including audience participation and in general showing his enthusiasm for music and being in the moment.

The music itself is anodyne, but well phrased. One could call it well crafted, which doesn't sound like a high compliment but should be at least a good compliment; here are seven tunes the evoke with lush strings, understated horns tamborines a mostly South American jazz sensibility. My particular favorite is the aforementioned "Sao Paulo" which starts out with a very sulty piano opening followed by a dreamy but operatic voice intoning a simple but beautiful melody. This is repeated in a higher register followed by a soft jazzy interlude... music to day dream by. It isn't that sophisticated by jazz and classical standards but well crafted and easily accessible, I suspect if you enjoy the type of collections that Putumayo puts out you might enjoy this one man "collection." These many years later, I recently purchased the CD, that's how well I remember and appreciate it. (That's the nice thing about CDs and even Amazon, stuff that didn't exist...exists again.)

So the years have passed and the hold the "Beatniks" (a term Ms Amram disputes) had on me is long gone, but the music Mr Amram created here still entertain the second time around.