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| "Live to Love" |
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"Wow....Your CD is really quite great... and swinging, too! Lori
has a very fine voice, sounds s'wonderful! The band swings, and you are
the master of the keys and styles. And the styling and art work on the
jacket is first class. Whoever did that, give them a gold star on their forehead and send them to
the front of the class!"
"Though widely known as Bloomington's King of Boogie Woogie Piano, Brenner demonstrates a musical maturity on the new album that he first showcased on his 2002 release, "Window on the Soul." "Live to Love" shows the pianist's full range of talents as a songwriter, arranger and band leader, as well as his broad tastes in styles and genres.
Brenner's wife, Lori, literally is the voice, or vocalist, who stands out
on many of the album's songs. Brenner wrote the song "Just One Glance" to
be his wedding march. On "Live to Love" the song is transformed from a
piece written for strings to what a 50s dance band might call a stroll.
"Homage to New Orleans" is a longer, six-minute piece, originally composed
in the 19980s but re-crafted in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. "Loading
the Boats to America" is also a reworked longer piece inspired, Brenner
said, by the election of Barack Obama. But then no Brenner album would be
complete without his world-class boogie-woogie and blues talents, which are
demonstrated on songs including "Hey Anna," "The Bloomington Breakdown"
and "The Crawdad Shuffle."
"The boys call out for Anna to come back to Indiana in the swingy opening number to Craig Brenner and the Crawdads' "Live to Love." Boogie woogie pianist Craig Brenner is the driving instrumental force in the album with his expert piano playing, from blues to ragtime to bayou-flavored romps, as well as turning to the organ, clavinet, percussion and vocals.
Joined by singer Lori Brenner and fellow Crawdads Nathaniel Brenner,
Gordon Bonham and Mike Baker, Tim Brookshire, Joe Donnelly, Dena El
Saffar, T.J. Jones, Forrest Means, Dave Pavolka, Antonya Wallace and David
Wierhake, the group proves it loves to live jumping and foot-tapping
through quick-fire piano notes, relaxing and swaying to resort-style
rhythms and breezy, sunny lines, dancing through funky harmonies. A
standout track is the moving ode to New Orleans, which begins like a
somber procession through the water-stained streets into a funkier,
livelier segment where its as if the neon lights switch back on and the
city comes alive."
"Bloomington's own Craig Brenner & the Crawdads have just issued a new CD that romps with boogie, blues, jazz, R&B and even country in a delightful potpourri of 10 original songs. Craig Brenner, leader of the group and composer, lyricist and arranger of all 10 original numbers on the new CD, "Live to Love," is an exemplar of what can happen when formal musical training meets deep-inside soulfulness and creativity. Craig Brenner and the Crawdads, in addition to being a fine ensemble that sports horns, guitars and even vibes and accordion, is also somewhat of a family affair. Craig's wife Lori Brenner, newest member of the group, is lead vocalist, and delights with her beautiful, melodious voice that's also filled to the brim with expressiveness. Son Nathaniel Brenner plays stand-up and electric bass and does backup vocals, while stepdaughter Antonya Wallace plays vibes and also does backup vocals. Craig Brenner himself, given his training, obviously plays piano, but also organ and clavinet, does backup vocals, and adds percussion. Of the tracks on "Live to Love," four are instrumentals. Two are Brenner solos accompanied with drums, his original compositions in boogie-woogie and blues piano that demonstrate that he is indeed the "fine and funky pianist" Living Blues magazine said he was. The first of these, "The Bloomington Breakdown," is a rocking boogie-woogie, the second is an up-tempo blues, "The Crawdad Shuffle," that features an excellent blues guitar solo as well, by Gordon Bonham. The six-minute instrumental, "Homage to New Orleans," opens with the horns playing an ominous hymn, then breaks into 1970s funk led excellently by T.J. Jones's funk-style guitar with special effects, ably abetted by sax and Brenner on organ, where he is just as adept as he is on piano. The last track, "The Garden," is also an instrumental, a horn-and-viola-driven jazz number with a Latin beat. The remaining six are all vocals, five of them featuring Lori Brenner on lead vocals with vocal chorus, while the opening track, "Hey Anna, Come Back to Indiana!" features a male vocal chorus developing this plaintive theme with counterpoint response from Lori, especially in the blues bridge in the middle of what is, overall, a 1930s boogie swing with the horn section complementing Brenner's boogie piano with a big-band sound. Lori Brenner's vocals are excellent on her five tracks, which partake of a variety of musical approaches. "Just One Glance" is 1950's R&B with horns and viola, accented by Craig Brenner's musical triplet piano riffing. "How Many Times?" is a more contemporary R&B number, and "I Live to Love" is an upbeat jazz samba reminiscent in its feel of Bossa Nova, which is aptly described as melancholy samba. But then, somewhat surprisingly, comes "Standing On My Own Two Feet Again," a contemporary country number that prominently features Wierhake's accordion in a musical celebration of overcoming the sting of her man leaving and actually feeling better for it. This is a true Nashville song (the one in Tennessee, not the artsy tourist trap in Indiana) that owes its inspiration to that period when Nashville gave us some substantive American music, that time of Patsy Cline, the original Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. The final song on "Live to Love" awaiting discussion is the longest track on the CD, the eight-minute-two-second anti-imperialist screed set to modern jazz, "Loading the Boats to America." This is a song that works well both politically and musically, and is an impassioned call to the conscience of us here in the United States to become aware how much our material over-consumption comes at the expense of the poor in Latin America, who produce the coffee and bananas we so love. Lori Brenner's impassioned vocals complement Craig Brenner's equally impassioned lyrics here, as she decries, in part: The multinationals are big; yes, my friend, and you are unintentionally fattening the pigs... These words bring home to us here in the often still comfortable recession economy of the United States those telling truths found in both John-Paul Sartre's "Silence is complicity" and in Che Guevara's "I can't help it if reality is Marxist." But the import of "Loading the Boats to America" is not just in this plea for conscience, but also in its clarion call, understated yet insistent, for solidarity across borders and oceans with the poor and working classes of Latin America. Further, this message is complemented, not compromised, by the musical eloquence of its jazz backdrop. Craig Brenner and "Loading the Boats to America" join those other political songwriters and their works that also make high art of protest -- that substantive notion of art saying something that runs through the songs of the Wobblies and the compositions of Bertolt Brecht, Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly through those of contemporary folksingers Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Ann Feeney and in our own immediate day, pop artists Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and the Dixie Chicks as well. And even this fairly extensive list leaves out others equally deserving of note, just showing that those who complain that politics can have no place in art, and that politics in art only demeans art for the sake of politics, really don't know what they're talking about.
Many of Craig's original boogie-woogie and blues piano compositions are
available as sheet music. Enhancing "Live to Love" is the brightly
colored painting by Joel Washington on the sleeve jacket of Craig Brenner
playing piano, which Washington adapted from a photo by Jeff Hammond."
"My kids LOVE your new CD! They play it non-stop and yesterday they invited
two little friends over to dance to it. I hope everyone else likes it as much
as we do."
"Local piano man extraordinaire Craig Brenner is known for his expressive playing, superlative chops, and four albums of energetic boogie-woogie, blues standards, and original tunes. Brenner's fifth album, "Live to Live," recorded with his group, The Crawdads, and released this past October, charts a new direction. The ten songs, ranging from boogie to blues, jazz, R&B, and country, are all originals. "Live to Love" is also very much a family affair, featuring Brenner's wife Lori on vocals, his son Nathaniel on vocals and bass, his step-daughter Antonya Wallace on vocals and vibes, and his brother-in-law Mike Baker on electric guitar. Recording with his wife was "really fun," Brenner says. "When you go in the studio with your spouse it can be really beautiful or really stressful. This turned out beautiful." Brenner wrote and arranged the songs on "Live to Love" with a deliberately positive vibe, hoping "to do something uplifting." He was inspired by a recent happy event: his marriage to Lori in 2007. Several tunes are essentially love letters to his wife, including "I Live to Love" and "Just One Glance," which Brenner originally wrote for their nuptials and revamped for the CD by adding vocals. As much as it is a tribute to domestic tranquility, "Live to Love" is also a celebration of Bloomington's cultural scene. Local artist Joel Washington painted the cover portrait (based on a photograph by Jeffrey Hammond that originially appeared in "Bloom") in his signature, psychedelic-impressionist style. Several songs pay musical homage to Brenner's adopted hometown (he grew up in Florida and has lived in Bloomington since the mid-70's), including "Hey Anna, Come Back to Indiana!" and "The Bloomington Breakdown."
Brenner is especially proud of the album because it marks his growth as a
producer, working with multiple instruments to create a full-bodied sound.
"I was really trying to stretch out as a player and as an arranger, making
sure that everything fits," he says. "And I think it does."
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| "Play It Again, Professor!" |
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"Craig Brenner is a 'fine and funky'
pianist..."
"Brenner slides and glides and shuffles
through the songs in a style that is
simultaneously easygoing and lively."
"Craig Brenner knows how to boogie!"
"His touch is light, his control
impeccable..."
"Your piano playing is great."
"An absolutely killer CD...sounds more like the Prof. than any I've ever
heard."
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| "Backstage Boogie" |
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"His self-produced CD 'Backstage Boogie' displays Brenner's piano mastery through a 12-cut display of the classic stride piano style, a display made far more than just a museum exhibit through Brenner's combining of impeccable technique with soulful feeling that turns 'Backstage Boogie' into an exercise in rockin' throughout, makes the music not only idiomatically correct, but toe-tappin' and hip-shakin' as well.
'Backstage Boogie' is just one of Craig Brenner's masterful piano
CDs available through his Web site, and is a clear demonstration that
boogie piano lives on strong, vital, and thriving in Indiana."
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| "Window on the Soul" |
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" 'Window On the Soul' marks a stunning achievement for Brenner, long-recognized as one of the best piano and keyboard players on the local music scene. Brenner doesn't just stretch his boundaries with 'Window on the Soul.' He breaks out as an artist with a diverse selection of original compositions that embrace bop, cool, Latin, small ensemble and trio jazz stylings. These are complemented with three pieces more close to home: the self-explanatory 'Brenner's Boogie,' the blues-based 'South Fess Shuffle' and the only cover tune on the album, 'Pinetop's Boogie Woogie.'
" 'Window on the Soul' is an album you can put on again and again. Unlike
Brenner's previous paeans to solo and boogie woogie piano, there is a
diversity of sounds, styles and arrangements that come together
deliciously on 'Window on the Soul'. "
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| "Man At The Piano" |
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"Brenner's music, full of soul and virtuosity, shines on this album. Rife
with spontaneous energy, Man At the Piano's 12 tunes are engaging and
entertaining...Brenner's versatile playing distinguishes him throughout;
his
mastery of a variety of blues and jazz styles is perhaps the most
impressive aspect of his playing."
"There are so many criteria for saying whether you like a certain musical act or piece of music. At this point in my life, I have heard so many artists try to dazzle me with one thing or another -- technical prowess, angst in their souls, an ironic worldview, sheer volume and obnoxiousness -- that it's a delight to find the likes of Craig Brenner. If you've heard him, you know what I mean -- a guy who's completely at peace with what he's chosen to do with his gifts. "Brenner can clearly address, in conversation or in song, the great American piano traditions with authority. He's taken the New Orleans barrelhouse approach as his main ingredient, added dashes of boogie-woogie and New York-type stride piano, and seasoned the results with suggestions of Tin Pan Alley and raw Texas blues. When he serves this up on his platters, he does it in his characteristically unassuming manner. "His new album, Man At the Piano, is the kind of follow-up to 1995's Play Again, Professor! you'd expect, but exudes just a tad more edge. Echo Park engineer Mark Hood seems to have realized we want Brenner, his Crawdads, and the impressive lineup of guest artists sound like they're in our living room, not his studio. Also, there's just a bit looser attitude to all the playing, both on introspective numbers and the dance tunes. " "Jumpin'" showcases the smartest guitar I've ever heard Gordon Bonham lay down on a record. He faithfully executes the figure Brenner also plays on vibes and tosses in some perfectly appropriate flourishes on subsequent choruses. The same goes for Mojo Hand's Lauren Robert's vocal on "You're A Hog For Me." Bessie Smith and Willie Mae Thornton would be proud.
" "When Sunny Gets Blue" is the loveliest of spare solo-piano pieces on
the
album...
"All (the selections) are performed with a light, swinging touch that
recalls the easygoing sophistication of a bygone era."
"Easygoing set of blues, jazz, and Professor Longhair standards, with a
few originals, too. Mix of solo and accompanied piano makes for good
listening all around."
"We're treated to a mix of solo pieces and songs with backing by a band
including Gordon Bonham on guitar, Jeff Chapin on drums and Steve Johnson
on bass...Some time ago Craig Brenner played at the Piano Stage of the
Queen City Blues Festival in Cincinnati, along with two European players -
Philippe Lejeune and Jean-Pierre Bertrand. I wonder if some of our
promotors will have the common sense to have a 'piano stage' at his
festival, so that we can see and hear people like Craig Brenner here on
stage. That's called wishful thinking, or even better, utopia."
"ideal late night listening...a wonderful set of music that has that sense
of blues and jazz cool one only finds in 50/60's records. A real gem."
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| Unsolicited Comments Received After Recent Public and Private Performances |
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June 12, 2009 -- "The pleasure was mine....and all of the guests. You and your music were delightful and EXACTLY what I was looking for in terms of setting the right atmosphere." --Mary, IU Conferences May 18, 2009 -- "Thanks, Craig. Your band was tremendous! The evening would not have been the smashing success it was if you had not been part of it!" --Lee and Eric April 13, 2009 -- "The CD's are wonderful, as was the performance. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Thanks again." --Mike October 2, 2008 -- "Thanks Craig, and thanks for doing such a brilliant job. You were the smash hit of the week, and it was a sheer pleasure to listen, as always. Warmest to you and the band." --Paul May 27, 2007 -- "Craig, Thank you SO much for playing at our wedding reception. It was so perfect, so fantastic -- we loved it. We hope you had fun, and hope you enjoyed collaborating with Brian's friend and brother. It was a lot of fun for us. THANK YOU for being a part of our day. It wouldn't have been the same without you! Hope all of your summer performances go well -- hopefully we'll catch you somewhere sometime this summer! Thanks!" --Jill and Brian Dec. 6, 2006 -- "Craig, EVERYONE LOVED THE MUSIC. Your group was just great. Lots of fun, enthusiasm and wonderful talent. Thank you so much." --Malcolm and Jenny, Magazine Publisher Nov. 3, 2006 -- "Craig Thank you for making the reception so wonderful. The music was wonderful!!!" --Lindsey Sept. 29, 2006 -- "Thanks so much for making Joanna's wedding such a great party. I cannot begin to count how many people told me it was the classiest wedding they had ever been to and several said best party ever. That group includes the bartender and the photographers-I'm sure they have seen a few! I know what made it classy.....the fabulous band! When we were making the time line for the evening Bari told me I did not have to worry that the dance floor would be full at ten. It never happens she assured me. The old people leave by eight and the young people leave for the bars by nine. When you shut down the dance floor just after ten and it was full of old and young people, I had to laugh. Obviously she did not know we would have such a great band! We had such a great time. Appreciated how hard you all worked and with so few breaks. I hope you got to eat. We just loved everything about the band! People who never danced one dance also raved about the music. It was perfect for listening and watching as well as dancing. The five year olds enjoyed every minute on the dance floor and the 89 and 91 year olds enjoyed your music just as much. We did too. Some of the people under 30 had never been to a wedding with a band and they really enjoyed it. Joanna told me on the dance floor "great call to have a band mom." It really was and I am happy to take credit for that decision. Thanks again for the classiest wedding ever!" --Monica and Jim Sept. 25, 2006 -- "Hi Craig, I really wanted to send you a very heartfelt thanks. The band really made the reception--there was no end to the guests who told us what a great time they had dancing and how much they loved the music. The repertoire was fantastic; it appealed to everyone from 5 to 75 years old (really, Neil's dad is 75 and was having a blast). We especially enjoyed your renditions of our special requests--Someone Like You, What a Wonderful World, Better Together, and Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Anyway, please pass our thanks along to the rest of the band. It exceeded anything we could have imagined and we'll always have those memories of a great reception." --Best, Joanna
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