CRAIG BRENNER
Craig Brenner: Short Bio
Craig Brenner explores the jazzy side of blues and boogie-woogie piano. Called "a fine and funky pianist" by Living Blues, Craig has received many grants and has been voted "Best Musician" in Bloomington, IN, in the Bloomington Independent, and Craig Brenner & The Crawdads has been chosen best band. A graduate of Florida Southern College who grew up in North Miami Beach, FL, Craig attended the Indiana University School of Music from 1976-80, where he studied with composer John Eaton, pianists Joseph Rezits and Enrica Cavallo Gulli, and jazz educator David Baker, among others. Prior to moving to Indiana, Craig studied in Miami, FL with jazz pianist Wally Cirillo and classical pianist Elizabeth Fishbein. Craig also studied with and performed regularly with boogie woogie and stride master Bob Seeley and with Big Joe Duskin. Craig is the founder of Bloomington Boogies: The Bloomington Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Festival.
Craig performs solo and with his groups at blues, boogie-woogie, and jazz festivals and venues throughout the U.S. and around the world. He has performed with Bo Didley and opened shows for B. B. King, C. J. Chenier, Queen Ida, Buckwheat Zydeco, Gary Burton, Richard Thompson, Wayne Toups, Honeyboy Edwards, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, the Radiators, Duke Robillard, Jimmy Rogers, Terrance Simien, and many others. Craig's bands include Craig & The Crawdads and The Ragin' Texans - Jim Bracken, Gordon Bonham, Brian Lappin, and Craig - with drummers Kenny Aronoff, Tim Brookshire, or Dan Hostetler. The Texans and Crawdads have included remarkable musicians; in addition to Bonham and Bracken, other guitarists include Jeff White, David Steele, and Stuart Norton; horn players include Dennis and Tim Riggins and Tom Gullion - known as "The Long Horns" - and Dennis Hoshijo; drummers include Bunchy Johnson, Lenny Marsh, and Uganda Roberts; and special guests have included Lisa Germano, John Prine, John Mellencamp, Dominic Spera, Jason Wilbur, and many other touring musicians.
Backstage Boogie (1990), Craig's first recording, features Dan Hostetler on drums. Play it Again, Professor! (1995), includes conguero and Professor Longhair collaborator "Uganda" Roberts, Craig & The Crawdads, and guests, with drummers Kenny Aronoff and Tim Brookshire, guitarist Stuart Norton, bassists Brian Lappin and John Huber, tenor sax-man Dennis Riggins, and trombonists Tim Riggins and Dave Pavolka. The jazzy Man At the Piano (1997) features guest vocalist Lauren Robert. Window On the Soul (2002) includes ten original compositions, with Craig's sons Eli and Nate Brenner, Gordon Bonham, Norton, Brookshire, Pavolka, clarinetist James Campbell, drummers Jeff Chapin and Pete Wilhoit, sax player Joe Donnelly, percussionist Bob Dubinski, trumpeter Pat Harbison, French horn player Jerry Morris, vocalists Janiece Jaffe, Jane McLeod, Sonja Rasmussen, Sue Swaney and others. Live to Love (2009) by Craig Brenner & The Crawdads consists of all original music, with the first appearance on record of expressive vocalist Lori Brenner. Also joining Craig and the band on Live to Love is accordion player David Wierhake. Live At The Old Mint: Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano (2014), includes solo tracks by Craig, duos with Uganda Roberts, and a duet with Lori Brenner on rubboard.
Craig's most recent recording, Passages (2020), features Lori Brenner and Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs on vocals (Merrill appears courtesy of 4AD), Nate Brenner of tUnE-yArDs and Ron Kadish on bass, Dan Hostetler and Tim Brookshire on drums, Mike Baker and Gordon Bonham on guitar, Joe Donnelly and Jake Belser on sax, Dena El Saffar on violin and viola, Kyle Quass on trumpet, and Dave Pavolka on trombone. Craig is also featured on the Cooler Kings' Looks Like Trouble, on Cathi Norton's Various Stages of Undress, on Piney Woods' Big Blues Party and Sonny Carter's Wings of Time, on CDs by Bret Raper, Andy Ruff and the Dew Daddies, Red Eye Max, on Music for Memory, produced by Mark Butterfield to benefit the Alzheimer's Association of Indiana, on tUnE-yArDs' album Sketchy (2021), and on Tj Jones' Old School Funk (2022).
For over six years Craig hosted the radio program "Play It Again, Professor!" on WFHB 91.3 & 98.1 FM Community Radio. The show focused on post-ragtime American piano, featuring a different artist or genre each week. The show aired from January of 1993 until July of 1999, helping introduce blues, boogie-woogie, and New Orleans piano playing to radio audiences in Indiana and internet listeners worldwide.
In 2014 Craig performed at the Festival International de Boogie Woogie de Laroquebrou France. After returning to the U.S., Craig began Bloomington Boogies: The Bloomington Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Festival in 2015. The first festival featured Bob Seeley, Carl Sonny Leyland, Marcia Ball, Sunpie Barnes, Uganda Roberts, Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues. Craig, and others; subsequent festivals have featured Seeley, Sunpie, Henry Butler, C. J. Chenier, Mark Braun (aka Mr. B), Judy Carmichael, Uganda, Stephanie Trick, Paolo Alderighi, Ben Toury, Eden Brent, Daryl Davis, Bill Sims, Jr., Cynthia Girtley, Rob Rio, Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne, Mitch Woods, Ricky Nye, David Barry, Henri Herbert, Cass Hart, Mike Lucas, Monika Herzig, Ross Martinie Eiler, Michele Brentano, Craig, and more, with rhythm section and dancers. The distinguishing feature of each festival has been the emphasis on introducing young people to boogie-woogie and stride piano, through in-school concerts and free master classes and workshops. Thousands of students have benefited from these educational activities between 2015 and 2025.
Whether playing solo (boogie-woogie, blues, and jazz), jazz and swing with Lori or with his trio, roots-rock and blues with the Ragin' Texans, leading the Zydeco- and New Orleans-influenced Craig & The Crawdads, or collaborating with other artists around the world, Craig promises world-class entertainment that will make you want more!
Info:
craigbrenner.com
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