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Craig Brenner

Craig Brenner is an award winning pianist/composer living in Bloomington, IN, and the leader of Craig Brenner & The Crawdads.

About Me

Called “a fine and funky pianist” by Living Blues magazine, pianist/composer Craig Brenner has been voted “Best Musician” in Bloomington, IN numerous times by readers of the Bloomington Independent; and Craig & The Crawdads have been selected best band in the same poll. A graduate of Florida Southern College, Craig attended the Indiana University School of Music from 1976 through 1980, studying with composer John Eaton, pianists Joseph Rezits and Enrica Cavallo Gulli, and jazz guru David Baker. Craig has also 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's first recording is “Backstage Boogie” (1990) with drummer Dan Hostetler. His second, “Play it Again, Professor!” (1995), includes award-winning conga drummer and Professor Longhair collaborator Alfred “Uganda” Roberts, 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. Craig's third recording is the jazzy CD ”Man At the Piano” (1997), featuring The Crawdads.

“Window On the Soul” (2002) includes 10 original compositions and features Craig's sons Eli and Nate Brenner as well as Gordon Bonham, Tim Brookshire, James Campbell, Jeff Chapin, Joe Donnelly, Bob Dubinski, Pat Harbison, Janiece Jaffe, Jane McLeod, Jerry Morris, Stuart Norton, Dave Pavolka, Sonja Rasmussen, Mark Robinson, Sue Swaney, Pete Wilhoit and others. “Live to Love”(2009) features all original music, with the first appearance on record of lead vocalist Lori Brenner, whose expressive singing is found on six of the tunes. Craig's most recent albums are “Live At the Old Mint: Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano” (2014) and “Passages” (2020), with the latter receiving stellar reviews by Scott Yanow and in OffBeat magazine, among others.

Craig is also featured on the Cooler Kings' “Looks Like Trouble” on the Slippery Noodle label, on Cathi Norton's “Various Stages of Undress” on Flat Rock Records, and on releases by Piney Woods Blues Party, Andy Ruff and the Dew Daddies, Red Eye Max, and other recordings. In 2014, Craig performed at the Festival International de Boogie Woogie in France, and in 2015 he began Bloomington Boogies: The Bloomington, IN Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Festival.

Craig's book of original piano music and his albums are available at www.craigbrenner.com. Listen to Craig on Pandora and CDBaby or watch on YouTube.