A day to celebrate the life of a truly great musician.
Artie Traum (1943-2008) would have been 77 years old today. Unfortunately, liver cancer cut his life short back in 2008 at age 65. However, it matters not how long a great artist lives. Musicians are not judged by their longevity, but in the volume and quality of the works they leave behind.
There is so much he left behind for all of us to enjoy! I counted at least 15 record albums between his solo works, as well as his collaborations with others: Older brother Happy Traum, Pat Alger, and multiple artists on the “Woodstock Mountains” record. As a producer, he is credited to 17 records including artists such as Arlen Roth, Priscilla Herdman, Livingston Taylor, Windam Hill guitarist Alex DeGrassi, bass man and composer Tony Levin, just to name a few! As a session guitarist, he appeared on 28 albums: Bridget Ball, Rory Block, Eric Anderson, dobro player Cindy Cashdollar, and of course the list goes on and on!
Artie was born in the Bronx, NY. He was in “the right place at the right time” to become a part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene in the late 1950s, with such influences as his older brother “Happy” and of course, Pete Seeger.
In 1969, the duo of “Happy and Artie Traum” released their first album on Capital Records. The NY Times gave it high praise saying it was, “one of the best records in any field of pop music.”
From a personal standpoint, Artie’s contributions to music and music education have affected me profoundly! Both my wife and I kept the Woodstock Mountains album in heavy rotation (via cassette tapes!) on our first trip out west in 1982. Artie’s song “Barbed Wire” became synonymous with the beautiful places we saw in the deserts, canyons, and monuments of Southern California, Arizona and Utah.
A couple of songs from Artie’s “Life on Earth” record became staples for the repertoire of the band Synergy that I was a part of in the 80s. (More on them another day). To me, that record is the perfect balance of pop music, jazz and funk grooves, heart-felt ballads, as well as Artie’s infectious and wonderfully silly sense of humor!
This all would have been enough for me to celebrate Artie Traum’s life, but there was more . . . so much more! Artie was a very active contributor to his brother Happy’s company “Homespun Music Instruction.” When my own guitar playing was in kind of a rut in the early 1980’s, Artie’s instructional tapes helped tremendously to pull me out of said rut. His “Basic Jazz Guitar” series, put my playing on a completely new and exciting musical path.
Not only were his series of tapes helpful to my own playing abilities, but they gave me some insights for teaching my students as well. As a young guitar instructor who started out by kind of “winging it”, Artie’s musical ideas and encouraging words helped me to grow by leaps and bounds! I am forever in his debt for this powerful influence on my own work.
The last time I saw Artie play live was around the year 1995. It was at “Borders Book Store” in Albany, NY. He was playing his instrumental jazz, primarily from his album “Cayenne” at this particular concert. Actually, I was a bit erroneous in saying I “saw” him. The place was so packed I could only hear him. So, I just wandered around the bookstore, taking in the great vibes he was putting down.
When the show was over, he was set up at a table greeting and talking to people. The line was pretty long, and some guy really had his ear for quite a long time. I am (and have always been) kind of shy about chatting with the “great ones” in the business. The scene from the film “Wayne’s World” where they say, “We are not worthy” kind of sums up my approach to celebs, even if they are more than likely just “Regular Joe’s” like me.
I wanted to shake Artie’s hand and tell him what a massive influence he had on my music and my teaching. Then a voice in my head said, “He’ll just think you’re another idiot who thinks he’s all that in his little second-rate music business fantasy world!”
With that, I left the store without reaching out to this great mentor of mine. 13 years later, I found out he had passed away. There’s an old Carter Family song that says, “Give me the roses while I live . . . useless are flowers that you give, after the soul is gone.”
Yep, I kinda blew my chance to speak my truth to this great musical genius. That is why I have taken this day, Artie Traum’s birthday, to celebrate this great American musical dynamo! If you have forgotten about him, or are unfamiliar with him, I hope I can convince you to become a fan!
Here are some of my favorite Artie Traum tunes.
