Geoff Muldaur (born August 12, 1943) is an American active singer, guitarist and composer, who was a founding member of the

Jim Kweskin Jim Kweskin (born July 18, 1940, Stamford, Connecticut) is an American folk, jazz, and blues musician, most notable as the founder of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, also known as Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, with Fritz Richmond, Geoff Muldaur, Bob S ...

Jug Band and a member of

Paul Butterfield Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...

's Better Days.

Career

Having established a reputation with the Kweskin Jug Band during the 1960s, Geoff and his then wife Maria Muldaur recorded their first album, ''Pottery Pie'', for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in 1968. this album contained his version of "Brazil" (" Aquarela do Brasil"), which became the theme for the film ''

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

'' (1985) directed by

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

. After recording the album, the Muldaurs moved to

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

. They separated in 1972, shortly after Geoff Muldaur joined

's Better Days band. After leaving the Butterfield band in 1976, Muldaur recorded an album with

Amos Garrett Amos Garrett (born November 26, 1941) is an American-Canadian blues and blues-rock musician, guitarist, singer, composer, and musical arranger. He has written instructional books about music and guitar. Garrett holds dual citizenship and was rai ...

, and ''Geoff Muldaur and the Nite Lites'' for

Hannibal Records Hannibal Records was a British record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre. Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport ...

. He also recorded with

Bobby Charles Robert Charles Guidry (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010), known as Bobby Charles, was an American singer-songwriter. Early life An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, United States, and grew up listening to Cajun mus ...

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

Eric Von Schmidt Eric Von Schmidt (May 28, 1931 – February 2, 2007) was an American singer and guitarist, songwriter, painter and illustrator, and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s and a key part o ...

, Bonnie Raitt, and John Cale. In the early 1980s, Muldaur left the stage and recording studio for a working sabbatical. He wrote scores for film and television, won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, and produced albums for

Lenny Pickett Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band. From 1973 to 1981 he was a member of Tower of Power. He is known for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using ...

and

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ' ...

. In 2003,

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

released his album, '' Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke''. In 2009, Muldaur formed Geoff Muldaur and the Texas Sheiks with

Stephen Bruton Turner Stephen Bruton (November 7, 1948 – May 9, 2009) was an American actor and musician. Background Born in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, he moved with his family to Texas at the age of two. He fell into the Fort Worth music scene after ...

Cindy Cashdollar Cindy Cashdollar is an American musician specializing in steel guitar and Dobro. She grew up in Woodstock, New York, where she perfected her skills by playing with bluegrass musician John Herald, blues musicians Paul Butterfield, and Levon He ...

, Suzy Thompson,

Johnny Nicholas Johnny Nicholas (born 1948) is an American blues musician. He is most noted for being a member of the Grammy Award winning group, Asleep at the Wheel. Biography Nicholas grew up in Rhode Island, United States, where he formed his first band, ...

, and Bruce Hughes. Bruton died in 2009, and Tradition & Moderne released the album ''Texas Sheiks''.

Personal life

He married Maria D’Amato on 1964. They had a daughter on March 29, 1964, Jenni Muldaur, who is also a musician. After the Kweskin group broke up, the couple produced two albums. Maria began her solo career when their marriage ended in 1972 and retained her married name. His sister is actress

Diana Muldaur Diana Muldaur (born August 19, 1938) is an American film and television actress. Muldaur's television roles include Rosalind Shays on '' L.A. Law'' and Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. She als ...

. His daughters Jenni and Clare are also musicians.

Discography

As leader

* ''Sleepy Man Blues'' (Prestige, 1964) * ''Pottery Pie'', with Maria Muldaur (Reprise, 1968) * ''Sweet Potatoes'', with Maria Muldaur (Reprise, 1972) * ''Is Having a Wonderful Time'' (Reprise, 1975) * ''Motion '' (Reprise, 1976) * ''Blues Boy'' (Flying Fish, 1979) * ''Geoff Muldaur & Amos Garrett'' (Flying Fish, 1978) * ''Live in Japan'' (Yupiteru, 1979) * ''I Ain't Drunk'' (Hannibal, 1980) * ''The Secret Handshake'' (HighTone, 1998) * ''Beautiful Isle of Somewhere'' (Tradition & Moderne, 1999) * ''Password'' (HighTone, 2000) * '' Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke'' (Edge Music, 2003) * ''Texas Sheiks'' (Tradition & Moderne, 2009) With

* ''Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band: Unblushing Brassiness'' (Vanguard, 1963) * ''Jug Band Music'' (Vanguard, 1965) * ''See Reverse Side for Title'' (Vanguard, 1966) * ''Garden of Joy'' (Reprise, 1967) * ''Penny's Farm'' (Kingswood, 2015)

As sideman or guest

With

* ''The Folk Blues of Eric Von Schmidt'' (Prestige, 1964) * ''Eric Sings Von Schmidt'' (Prestige, 1965) * ''2nd Right 3rd Row'' (Poppy, 1972) * ''Eric Von Schmidt and the Cruel Family'' (Philo, 1978) With others *

Vince Bell Vince Bell is a Texas singer-songwriter who has appeared on the PBS television program ''Austin City Limits'' along with NPR broadcasts such as ''Mountain Stage'', '' World Cafe'' and ''Morning Edition''. His songs have been performed and rec ...

, ''Phoenix'' (Watermelon, 1994) *

, ''Better Days'' (Bearsville, 1973) *

, ''Bobby Charles'' (Bearsville, 1972) *

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

, '' Stories We Could Tell'' (RCA Victor, 1972) * John Cale, '' Slow Dazzle'' (Island, 1975) *

Mary Flower Mary Flower is an American musician and music educator on the independent Yellow Dog Records label. A blues and ragtime fingerstyle guitarist and vocalist, she combines intricate syncopated Piedmont style fingerpicking with lap-slide guitar. ...

, ''Rosewood & Steel'' (Bluesette, 1996) *

, ''Garcia'' (Grateful Dead, 1990) * Jerry Garcia, ''All Good Things'' (Rhino, 2004) *

Bob Neuwirth Robert John Neuwirth (June 20, 1939May 18, 2022) was an American folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and visual artist. He was noted for being the road manager and associate of Bob Dylan, as well as the co-writer of Janis Joplin's hit s ...

, ''Bob Neuwirth'' (Asylum, 1974) *

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

, ''High Wide and Handsome'' (Proper, 2009)

References

External links

Official Geoff Muldaur website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muldaur, Geoff 1943 births Living people People from Pelham, New York American country singer-songwriters American blues guitarists American male guitarists Singer-songwriters from New York (state) American blues singers American folk singers Elektra Records artists Guitarists from New York (state) 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters Loomis Chaffee School alumni