On a Scroll

The Denver Public Library is on a scroll this week, with three free events inspired by Jack Kerouac. Today from 2 to 4 p.m. in the B2 Conference Center of the Denver Central Library, 10 West 14th Avenue Parkway, John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos) and David Amram, a composer who was Kerouac's first musical collaborator, will offer a reading of On the Road: The Original Scroll — but this will go much further than your standard, staid reading. "The reason this goes beyond a traditional book reading or even a theatrical event is because David and John have been continuing what David started in the late '50s with Jack Kerouac, which is the tradition of jazz poetry," explains the DPL's Audrey Sprenger. "And so when they work together, they are creating a poetic reading that will never be heard again. It's just the way jazz in a club is something that happens in the moment."

Amram will be back in the same space from noon to 2 p.m. tomorrow to talk about his twelve-year collaboration with Kerouac. "It's a rare opportunity to hear how Kerouac's writings influenced his symphonic compositions," Sprenger notes. But this program won't stop there, either, because while Amram is known more as a jazz composer, he recently unveiled Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie. So his work "is all about how artists who are distinctly American influence one another," Sprenger says. "It's about creating American art." For more, including details on Amram's October 18 bilingual concert for children and adults, go to http://denverlibrary.org/programs/fresh/Kerouac.html.
Sun., Oct. 14, 2-4 p.m., 2007