The Amu Darya (Persian: آمودریا‎, Āmūdaryā; Pashto: د آمو سيند, da Āmú Sínd; Arabic: جيحون‎, Jihôn or Jayhoun; Hebrew: גּוֹזָן‎, Gozan, Uzbek, Amudaryo, Greek: Ώξος, Oxus), also called Amu River, is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers. In ancient times, the river was regarded as the boundary between Ariana (Afghanistan) and Tūrān.

In antiquity, the river was known by the Sanskrit name Vaksu, which now survives in Vakhsh, a tributary of the river.

In ancient Afghanistan, the river was also called Gozan, descriptions of which can be found in the book "The Kingdom of Afghanistan: a historical sketch By George Passman Tate".

In classical antiquity, the river was known as the Ōxus in Latin and Ὦξος Oxos in Greek — a clear derivative of Vakhsh — the name of the largest tributary of the river. In Middle Persian sources of the Sassanid period the river is known as Wehrōd (lit. "good river").

The name Amu is said to have come from the medieval city of Āmul, (later, Chahar Joy/Charjunow, and now known as Türkmenabat), in modern Turkmenistan, with Darya being the Persian word for "river".

As an abbreviation, AMU may refer to:

Amu may refer to:

John Zorn (born September 2, 1953 in New York City) is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer. He has had experience with a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore punk, classical, extreme metal, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular, and improvised music. Zorn brings these styles to his work, which he refers to with the label avant-garde/experimental.

Zorn has stated: "All the various styles are organically connected to one another. I'm an additive person - the entire storehouse of my knowledge informs everything I do. People are so obsessed with the surface that they can't see the connections, but they are there."

Zorn has led the punk jazz band Naked City and the klezmer-influenced quartet Masada, composed Masada Songbooks (written concert music for classical ensembles), and has produced music for film and documentary.

Zorn established himself within the New York City downtown music movement in the mid 1970s and has since composed and performed with a wide range of musicians working in diverse musical areas. By the early 1990s Zorn was working extensively in Japan, attracted by that culture's openness about borrowing and remixing ingredients from elsewhere, before returning to New York as a permanent base in the mid-1990s. Zorn has undertaken many tours of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, often performing at festivals with varying ensembles to display his diverse output.

Farhad 'Darya' Nasher (Persian: فرهاد دریا b. September 22, 1962, from Kunduz, Afghanistan) is an Afghan singer and composer, as well as a highly acclaimed music producer, and Good Will and Peace Ambassador for Afghanistan to the United Nations. Widely popular, he has earned affection for not only his music but also patriotism. He has fan base that stretches from his native Afghanistan to Central Asia, Pakistan, India, and extending to the West among the Afghans.^{[citation needed]} Farhad sings in various languages including: Pashto, Dari Persian, Uzbek, English^{[citation needed]} and Hindi.

Farhad Darya was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, to an Afghan family originating from Kunduz. Farhad's blood lineage can be traced to the Nasher Khans. Darya attended [[Shir Khan|Sher Khan Hd-bed. He later graduated from Habibia High School.^{[citation needed]} After high school he enrolled in the Polytechnical University of Kabul and then subsequently in Kabul University. It was while attending Kabul University that Darya founded his first professional band, Goroh-e-Baran, meaning Rain Band. Initially it was to be called Halqahai Tilayee (Golden Rings) but the newcomers later settled on the former title.^{[citation needed]} The band itself was not largely successful, due in part to its non-traditional music; however, it did acquaint the public with the faces of the member singers: Darya, Asad Badie, Mukhtar Majid and Jawid Rahie.^{[citation needed]} Still involved in his music career, Darya continued his studies in college. During this time, he wrote music for other artists under the pseudonym Abr (Cloud). In 1988, Darya became a professor at the university and taught Western classical music for a year before leaving for Europe.^{[citation needed]}