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Singer/songwriter and acoustic folk-jazz guitarist
Artie Traum was based in Woodstock, New York. Born in the Bronx, he followed his brother
Happy into folk music in the early '60s in the New York area, taking guitar lessons from jazz artists. He and his brother formed the folk-rock group the Children of Paradise in the mid-'60s and, after
Happy's departure, they changed their name to Bear and recorded an album for Verve Forecast.
Traum moved to Woodstock in 1967 and worked as a record producer and composer of film soundtracks. He also recorded albums with his brother and with the Woodstock Mountain Revue. After
Traum's 1986 solo acoustic guitar album
Cayenne,
Traum began moving in a jazzier direction and using a number of sidemen from the electric jazz and fusion world (including guitarist
David Torn and bassist
Tony Levin) on 1993's new age-flavored
Letters from Joubée.
The View from Here (1996) and
Meetings with Remarkable Friends (1999) continued
Traum's expansive folk-jazz approach with numerous high-profile collaborators (including the likes of
Steve Swallow,
David Sancious,
John Sebastian,
Adrian Belew,
Béla Fleck,
David Grisman, and members of
the Band), while
The Last Romantic (2001) downsized the guitarist's cast of musician friends and
South of Lafayette (2002) saw
Traum returning to his singer/songwriter roots, albeit while retaining his acoustic jazz leanings. Released in 2007,
Thief of Time also featured
Traum in acoustic singer/songwriter mode.
Artie Traum died of liver cancer in July 2008; he was 65 years old. ~ William Ruhlmann & Dave Lynch