Artie
Traum - The Last Romantic
Some
of you will certainly know Shanachie's "The Very Best Of Smooth
Jazz Guitar" with artists like Ronnie Jordan, Lee Ritenour, Larry
Carlton, Peter White, Larry Corryell, Chieli Minucci, Acoustic
Alchemy, Chuck Loeb and more. On this collection one also finds Artie
Traum's "Quiet Volcano", which was taken from his album
"Letters From Joubee". His newest album from 2001 "The
Last Romantic" was released by Narada. Narada means "gifted
in music" and is the name of a mythical figure found in Hindu
literature. Primarily,
Narada produces contemporary instrumental music. Many Narada
recordings are designated to the New Age sections in record
stores.
Narada defines New
Age as followed: "The New Age genre in contemporary music can
include a wide variety of musical styles and artists, ranging from
relaxing acoustic guitar and piano, contemporary and straight-ahead
jazz, ambient, experimental, avant-garde, rooted in sacred and folk
traditions, and world music - including new flamenco, Celtic, Native
American, Cajun, Cuban, African, Middle Eastern, Latin and
more."
In the past the center
of Narada 's music was instrumental folk and world music. On Narada's
sampler Narada
Smooth Jazz for
example you
will only find folk music. Narada
and its affiliated companies were purchased by EMI/Virgin
Records America in 1997. Since a short time Narada has built up a
special jazz section called "Narada Jazz" with such prolific
artists as Keiko Matsui, Bob Baldwin, Ramsey Lewis, Warren Hill, Joyce
Cooling, Jeff Lorber, Urban Knights, Scott Wilkie and Alex Bugnon.
Artie Traum is
definetely an artist of folk music. Although his album "The
View From Here" (Shanachie/1997) is after Artie's
description "stylistically a commercial Smooth Jazz CD, with some
vocal tunes, including Josh Colow singing "Amazon, River of
Dreams," and Gabriela Anders singing Italian pop singer Pino
Daniel's song "Allora Si," with Michael Franks adding backup
parts." Artie is a master of the romantic acoustic guitar. If you
like Peter White or Marc Antoine, you should listen to his albums.
A Day In Polizzi
Generosa has some
Italian feelings especially when Artie plays the mandolin in addition
to his guitar. Polizzi
Generosa is a small Italian town near by Palermo and this tune is
a reminiscence of Artie's voyage to Sicily.
The Two Rubys
is a simple folk melody of timeless beauty.
On Braziliana
Artie plays steel string and acoustic guitars in a Brazilian mood
accompanied by Steve Swallow (bass), Dean Sharp (percussion), Tom Mark
(keyboards). The piece is kept in the style of Antonio Carlos Jobim, a
famous Brazilian guitarist, one of Artie's models.
The Last Romantic
is the slow dreamy title piece.
On High-String
Mania Artie plays
the high-strung W14c accompanied by Tony Levin on bass. A folkie
fingerpicker.
The Blue Hotel
is a warm contemplative melody with typical structures.
Against All Odds
is more up tempo, music of the Appalachian.
Dune
gets a darker tone by Dean Sharp's bass drum, which is setting
rhythmical points. Now one can listen to a certain drifting to World
Music.
On The
Sun At Worldset Artie
plays together with Frederic Hand (classical guitar). On this flawless
piece a certain Flamenco influence is shining through.
Fjords Ahead has
nothing in mind with Norwegian melodies, just another romantic tune.
Gingersnaps
is a swinging waltz theme, on which Artie showcases anew his magical
artistry.
On Truro
Warren Berhardt, a master
of piano, joins Artie's guitar. Warren is better known by his
contemporary jazz album. On this tune the slow melody is not
interrupted by any improvisations. A piece of timeless romantic.
Salty Soup
is certainly the only soup tasting sweet. A pure acoustic dream.
If you missed some
jazz, listen to the last tune Empire
Blues. Artie's
first blues experience is connected with Big Bill Broonzy and Brownie
McGhee, he heard with 13 years. Artie captures the spirit of these
artists in his song.
Artie Traum's
album "The Last Romantic" is indeed deeply romantic stuff.
Artie is playing his guitars so effortless that only a guitar player
can recognize the mastership of Artie Traum who continues the
tradition of great guitarists to share their riffs, speed-licks, chord
shapes and techniques with others.
