Pianist and composer Craig Brenner explores the jazzy side of blues and boogie woogie piano. Called "a fine and funky pianist" by Living Blues, Craig has been voted "Best Musician" in Bloomington, Indiana numerous times in the Bloomington Independent, and Craig & The Crawdads has been chosen best band.  Craig performs solo and with his groups at venues and festivals throughout Indiana, the U.S., and around the world. 

Craig grew up in North Miami Beach, FL, and graduated from Florida Southern College in 1970.  While at FSC, Craig performed in the Concert Choir and in two bands - The Effect of Sound and The Horizon - with Craig on keyboard and vocal, Waite Willis on rhythm guitar and vocal, Raggy Ragsdale on lead guitar and vocal, Larry Stahl on drums, and Lyn Joyner on bass. After graduation, Craig returned to North Miami Beach and studied music at Miami-Dade Community College North; his studies included classical piano with Elizabeth Fishbein, jazz piano with Wally Cirillo, arranging with Tony Pandy, and oboe with Neal Bonsanti.  Craig performed in the Chamber Singers and in the Stage Band at Miami-Dade Community College under the direction of jazz trumpeter John Giorgini. In 1976, Craig moved to Bloomington, IN, and attended the Indiana University School of Music from 1976 through 1980, studying piano with Enrica Cavallo, Joseph Rezits, and Alphonso Montecino, jazz improv with David Baker, oboe with Jerry Sirucek, and composition with John Eaton, among others.

In the late 1970s Craig attended the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and experienced Professor Longhair, James Booker, Tuts Washington, Dr. John, Fats Domino, and other piano players who were exploring the rhythmic and barrelhouse aspects of piano. Exposure to these "Piano Professors" caused Craig to reevaluate his musical direction and style.  Charles Brown, Memphis Slim, Ray Charles, the early boogie woogie players, and other jazz and blues stylists have since become part of Craig's musical vocabulary.

In 1981, Craig and a few friends formed the jazz-funk band Kruise Kontrol. This was followed in 1984 by the fusion trio Sajonner, with Tj Jones and Saaku Saar; in 1985 by R&B band Rhythm Method, with Kim Morgan, Jack Wilkins, Peter Roller, Kevin Newcomb, and Steve Johnson; also in 1985, rhythm and blues band Craig & The Crawdads first appeared. Their line-up has included guitarists Gordon Bonham, Mark Robinson, and Stuart Norton, drummers Tim Brookshire, Lenny Marsh, Dan Hostetler and Jeff Chapin, bassists Nate Brenner, Brian Lappin, Steve Johnson and David Murray, vocalist Lori Brenner, sax players Joe Donnelly, Tom Gullion and Dennis Riggins, and occasionally Craig's son Eli on percussion and accordionist David Wierhake, always featuring Craig's piano. The group sometimes includes the Crawdettes, female vocalists Lori Brenner, Laura Carlson, Janet Summers, Sue Swaney, Jane McLeod, Sonja Rasmussen, and Andrea Fiedler.

In 1986, Jim Bracken, Gordon Bonham, Brian Lappin and Craig formed the legendary roots-rock Ragin' Texans. With drummers Kenny Aronoff or Tim Brookshire, the Texans were one of the most popular bands in Indiana for seven years, and the band still performs on special occasions.  The group has included remarkable musicians in its long history.  In addition to Bonham and Bracken, Jeff White, David Steele, and Stuart Norton have taken turns as featured guitarists; Kenny Aronoff, Tim Brookshire, Dan Hostetler and Shawn Pelton have occupied the drum throne; and horn players, including Dennis, Tim Riggins, and Tom Gullion, have been featured as "The Long Horns."  Special guests have included Lisa Germano, John Prine, John Mellencamp, Dominic Spera, Jason Wilbur, and many touring musicians who heard about the band and sat in. 

Craig has studied with boogie woogie and stride piano master Bob Seeley and blues pianist Big Joe Duskin through a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission. Craig has played with Bo Didley and opened 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, and Terrance Simien. He has regularly performed at restaurants, clubs, and festivals including the Blues Piano Boogie Woogie Stomp, StoneSong, Hoosierfest, Oliver Winery, Taste of Bloomington, Indianapolis' Circle Fest, Broadripple Art Festival, Broadripple Music Fest, Penrod Art Festival, the Ethnic and Sunburst Festivals in South Bend, the Uptown Jazz and Blues Festival in Lafayette, Washington Street Festival in Muncie and the Cincy Blues Fest.

Craig has performed on many radio and television stations, including WFYI (Indianapolis), WKLU (Indy), WVPE (Elkhart), WVUT (Vincennes), WFHB (Bloomington), WFIU and WTIU (Bloomington). His solo piano set at the 1997 Cincy Blues Festival, recorded by the Blues Foundation of Memphis, was broadcast worldwide on "Beale Street Caravan." For information or to obtain a copy, contact the Blues Foundation at 901-527-2583.  Craig returns to Cincinnati periodically to join blues and boogie-woogie piano players from around the world appearing on the Arches Boogie Piano Stage. He also performs in New Orleans at one of the New Orleans Jazz National Park venues in the French Quarter. In 2014, Craig performed at the 16th annual Festival International de Boogie Woogie de Laroquebrou, Fr.

Craig's first recording, Backstage Boogie (1990) features drummer Dan Hostetler. Play it Again, Professor! (1995), includes conga drummer and Professor Longhair collaborator Alfred “Uganda” Roberts (more about Uganda in the description of Live At The Old Mint below), drummers Kenny Aronoff and Tim Brookshire, guitarists Gordon Bonham and 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 Craig & The Crawdads. Window On the Soul (2002) recorded at Echo Park Studios, includes ten original tunes and features Craig’s sons Eli and Nate Brenner as well as Bonham, Norton, Brookshire, Pavolka, James Campbell, Jeff Chapin, Joe Donnelly, Bob Dubinski, Pat Harbison, Janiece Jaffe, Jane McLeod, Jerry Morris, Sonja Rasmussen, Sue Swaney, Pete Wilhoit 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. 

Live At The Old Mint: Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano, released Jan. 1, 2014, includes eight tracks with “Uganda” Roberts on congas recorded at the Old U.S. Mint in New Orleans in April of 2013, solo tracks by Craig recorded at the Mint and at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, and one track with Lori Brenner on rubboard.  New Orleans native “Uganda” Roberts was one of Craig's musical mentors.  An in-demand conga/percussion player whose relationship with Allen Toussaint led to Roberts becoming house percussionist at Sea Saint Studios, Roberts played on the Meters’ “Afrika” and “Hey Pocky Way,” on Toussaint’s Life, Love, and Faith (1972), and on The Wild Magnolias (1974). In 1972, Roberts was introduced to Professor Longhair at the 2nd New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival by producer/founder Quint Davis, and Roberts toured and recorded with Fess until Fess’ death in 1980. Roberts is featured on Longhair’s Rock N Roll Gumbo (1977) and on Crawfish Fiesta (1980). The London Concert (recorded 1978) is a duo performance by Longhair and Roberts. Roberts toured with Willie Tee and the Wild Magnolias until 1986, when he took a hiatus from music, occasionally touring and recording on Dr. John’s Goin’ Back to New Orleans (1992), Craig’s Play It Again, Professor! (1995) and Man At The Piano (1997), Dr. John’s Dis, Dat, or D’udda (2004), and Craig's Live At The Old Mint. Recording engineers for Live At The Old Mint  were Danny Kadar at the Old U.S. Mint and Jeff Mountjoy at the Artsgarden, with mixing and mastering by Jacob Belser of Primary Sound Studios and graphic design by Merridee LaMantia.

Craig's most recent recording is Passages (2020), eight original tunes in various styles, featuring Lori Brenner (who also created the beautiful album art) and Merrill Garbus (Merrill appears courtesy of 4AD) on vocals, Nate Brenner 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 Andy Ruff and the Dew Daddies and Red Eye Max, on Music for Memory, produced by Mark Butterfield to benefit the Alzheimer's Association of Indiana, on Sketchy, by Tune-Yards (2021), and on Old School Funk, by Tj Jones (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.

Craig enjoyed a long and varied career in public service.  He taught school in Miami, FL, for four years in the early 1970s. A VISTA Volunteer in the early 1980s, he helped establish the Hoosier Hills Food Bank in Bloomington, IN, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana then hired Craig as statewide VISTA Project Supervisor.  In 1986, Craig began working for the City of Bloomington, first as Director of the Senior Citizens' Nutrition Project, then and as Special Projects Coordinator in the Community and Family Resources Department; in this capacity he administered the Bloomington Farmers’ Market and was staff liaison with the Commission on the Status of Women, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, Council for Community Accessibility, and Commission on the Status of Black Males.  Craig has received numerous awards for his service, including the City of Bloomington Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Award and Council for Community Accessibility Mayor’s Award.

In 2015, Craig began Bloomington Boogies: The Bloomington Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Festival, with performances by Bob Seeley, Sonny Leyland, Marcia Ball, Sunpie Barnes, Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues and others. Subsequent festivals have featured Seeley, Sunpie, Henry Butler, C. J. Chenier, Mark Braun - aka Mr. B, Judy Carmichael, Uganda Roberts, Eden Brent, Daryl Davis, Bill Sims, Jr., Cynthia Girtley, Rob Rio, Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne, Mitch Woods, Ricky Nye, David Barry, Henri Herbert, Cassidy Gephart, Mike Lucas, Ross Martinie Eiler, Michele Brentano, Craig, and more, with rhythm section and dancers.

In addition to performing and recording, Craig composes, arranges, and teaches advanced piano students the fundamentals of jazz, blues, and boogie woogie piano.  Piano Music by Craig Brenner contains many original pieces and is available for purchase.