Artie Traum
The late Artie Traum was an award-winning guitarist who had been featured on over 30 albums, including "South of Lafayette," (a "hip fusion of folk and jazz esthetics," writes Sing Out! Magazine) and his 2007 release "Thief of Time." "Letters From Joubee" (1994) spent six weeks at #1 on the smooth jazz radio charts, while "Meetings With Remarkable Friends," with The Band, Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Tony Levin, Laurence Juber, John Sebastian and other top musicians, was awarded Best Acoustic Instrumental Album of 1999 (NAV Award) and voted Best CD of 2000 by Hudson Valley Magazine. In 2001, Artie released "The Last Romantic," which was placed "on this year's list of best releases" by Jazz Times.
Performing since the 1960's, Artie Traum had worked with his brother Happy Traum, songwriter Pat Alger and The Woodstock Mountains Revue. Artie's songs have been recorded by The Band, David Grisman and Tony Rice, among others. He has produced CDs for Tony Levin, Laurence Juber, Livingston Taylor, Diane Ziegler and many other top artists. Artie performed at dozens of festivals, including the Catalina Jazz Trax Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival and the Newport Folk Festival, and composed music for film and TV shows.
For twelve years Artie Traum was a popular clinician for Taylor Guitars, performing guitar workshops around the world. His instructional materials continue to be best-sellers for Homespun Tapes.
"Artie Traum has the natural, soulful touch that other guitarists only dream about," says Donald Fagen of Steely Dan.
Artie passed away on July 20, 2008. You can read some of the may tributes to him on the Remembrance Page of his website.
