CRAIG JASTER
BIO
Craig Jaster grew up in Washington, DC, steeped in roots music, soul, jazz, and the free outdoor rock concerts he attended at nearby American University. By age 15 he was playing mandolin, singing, and performing with folk rock bands at coffeehouses and dances, and already had the great good fortune to see pianists Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, and Sun Ra perform.
While studying art and dance in college, he began accompanying modern dance in New York City, a formative experience in improvisation and kinesthetics. He continued as music director and performer with children’s dance companies in New York until he moved to New Hampshire in 1987, where he became the performing arts department head at a small independent K-12 school and played keyboards and guitar with local rock and dance bands. Area jazz musicians took notice, and in time the mostly self-taught pianist evolved into a sought after sideman and session player for local and touring artists, including trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, vocalist Philip Hamilton, and bluesman Big Joe Burrell, and from 1999-2004 he taught jazz piano at Plymouth State University. He has opened for Ray Charles, Dianne Reeves, Maria Muldaur, and Arturo Sandoval, among many others. He is also a founding member of Americana band The Buskers, which performed in Northern New England from 1993-2023, and he produced their albums Ray’s Vacation, Spank That Tambourine, and Every Day We Play a New Song.
By 2015, his extensive catalog of vocal and instrumental compositions, easy rapport with audiences, and unique musical voice established his place as bandleader of his own groups. They have since recorded two albums: Craig Jaster Trio (2017) and Good Night Blues (2023).
In 2019 he was guest music director, composer and performer with Washington, DC area Happenstance Theater for Pantheon, which premiered at Baltimore Theater Project. He has continued to compose and arrange for subsequent Happenstance productions, including, most recently, Cabaret Noir (2024).
He moved to Europe in 2017. Since 2024 he has divided his time between New Hampshire and Grosseto, Italy.
