Jazz pianist to play Friday at Cafe Django

Craig Brenner will perform an evening of live music on a Yamaha grand piano at 6 p.m. Friday at Café Django.

On North Grant Street, the restaurant serves Asian and Peruvian cuisine.

Cover is $5 at the door.

Brenner said he will perform original jazz pieces, as well as jazz classics.

The night’s set list will include tunes such as “Nathaniel,” “You” and “You Won’t Hear It Again,” as well as Brenners’ boogie woogie pieces “The Bloomington Breakdown” and “The Crawdad Shuffle.”

Brenner grew up in North Miami Beach, Fla.

“I grew up in a home with a piano player,” Brenner said. “I would often try to sit on the bench and reach the pedals so I could make the piano rolls turn and play the piano. My mom recognized my interest and started me on piano lessons with a teacher when I was 5 or 6. I have always loved music, and continued to play as I grew up.”

He attended both Florida Southern College for political science, and later Miami Dade College to study music.

“I took everything offered in music, and after finishing two years there my teachers urged me to continue studying piano,” Brenner said. “I moved to Bloomington in the spring of 1976 and have been here ever since.”

Brenner graduated in 1980 from the Jacobs School of Music.

He has extensive experience, both professionally and personally, with genres such as jazz, blues, stride, boogie woogie, swing and roots rock.

A two-time recipient of the Indiana Arts Commission Individual Artist Program, Brenner currently leads the jazz band Craig and the Crawdads.

“I am happy to be able to play in a number of styles that I love, including boogie woogie, blues, jazz and New Orleans piano, and I am happy to be able to continue learning,” Brenner said. “I am also glad I have been able to write and record a number of pieces and perform with some great musicians, many of whom are great friends.”

— Cory Schmidt