Artie Traum, 65, Folk Guitarist and Teacher

Artie Traum, who died at home Sunday at 65, was a guitarist who had a long career in folk and later jazz from his home base in Woodstock, N.Y.

In the early 1960s, he gravitated toward the Greenwich Village folk scene, playing at Izzy Young's Folklore Center and Gerde's Folk City, seminal gathering spots for folkies. He joined Dave Van Ronk's band, the Ragtime Jug Stompers.

He later formed a duo with his brother, Happy Traum. They performed at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival and then toured widely as an opening act for Bob Dylan, The Band, and Peter, Paul & Mary. All the groups shared a single manager, Albert Grossman.

Their first album, "Happy and Artie" (1969) was a strong contribution to the emerging country rock style and included a track by their upstate music pals, Robbie Robertson and Rick Danko.

Artie Traum went on to lead the Woodstock Mountains Revue in the 1970s, and cut five albums for Rounder Records. Having studied guitar with jazz players from the 1960s, Traum in the 1990s began experimenting with fusion styles and charted an album, "Letters from Joubee" at no. 1 on the smooth jazz radio list in 1994.

"I like to think this is the kind of hip smooth jazz ... not the sappy drum-machine stuff everybody hates," he told the online site Guitarsam. "I like it all and enjoy wearing different hats on different days."

A hard-working musician, Traum could often be found playing at coffee houses or leading a band on the upstate stalwart of folk WAMC public radio network.

In 1999, he released "Meetings with Remarkable Friends," a set of duets and collaborations with artists including Bela Fleck, David Grisman, and Adrian Belew. His latest release was "Thief of Time" (2007), on his own Roaring Stream Records.

Traum had a parallel career as a teacher and author of teaching materials, and toured widely leading workshops for Taylor Guitars. With Happy Traum, he wrote "Guitar Styles of Brownie McGhee," named after their blues teacher in the late 1950s.

Oscar Brand, who several times hosted the Traum brothers on his long-running "Folk Song Festival" on WNYC-AM, recalled Traum as a great performer, but said his most important legacy was as a teacher. "They were the kids who grew up, and they helped a tremendous number of performers," Mr. Brand said of the brothers in an interview yesterday.

He also contributed to a documentary about the history of New York City's water systems in the Catskills, and contributed music to several films.

After touring in Sicily in 1998, he wrote a travelogue for the New York Times that garnered an award from the Italian government.

"The last time I went back was in June, where I was wined and dined as a writer, not a musician," he said in the Guitarsam interview. "I'd go to Sicily anytime, for any reason."

When he wasn't touring or recording, Traum liked "to plant peas and garlic ... in the garden" at his house in Bearsville, just outside Woodstock.

He had been ill with cancer, but maintained a schedule of performances through the spring. He is survived by his wife and brother.