Neil Oram pronounced that Oram was the worst behaved boy in the whole history of the school. This was after Oram had organized a couple of mass rebellions and refused to be caned. In his second year a fellow 'rebel' pupil, Paul Eva, introduced Oram to modern jazz. Oram has recounted how the moment Eva played him Gerry Mulligan's ‘Walking Shoes’, instantly his life was changed. Soon, via a primitive record player and earphones in his father's shed, Oram discovered the art of Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and Charlie Mingus. New very sharp modern
Monterey Jazz Festival Eric Dolphy & Wes Montgomery, Carmen McRae, George Shearing Quintet, Odetta, and Jimmy Rushing 1962 Louis Armstrong All-Stars, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Carmen McRae, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Stan Getz Quartet, Quincy Jones & the Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra 1963 Carmen McRae, Miles Davis Quintet, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk Quartet, Jon Hendricks, Harry James Orchestra, Jimmy Witherspoon, The Andrews Sisters & the Gospel Song, and Helen Merrill, Joe Sullivan 1964 Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Miles Davis Quintet w/ Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter & Tony Williams, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk Quartet,