About
an accomplished producer, composer, arranger, and performer, craig hartley has an impressively eclectic music background. craig has worked across a variety of musical contexts and genres, composing, arranging, conducting, and leading chamber, jazz, and indie rock ensembles as well as producing music for film, art exhibits, and live events.
a graduate of manhattan school of music, craig has studied under jazz legends such as jackie mclean and has performed with greats such as eddie henderson and anthony braxton. his expertise has been sought by numerous organizations and institutions for master classes and performances, including yale university, tohoku university (sendai, japan), university of naples federico ii (naples, italy), the hartt school, and berklee college of music.
hartley signed with skidoo records to release books on tape vol. 1, his debut jazz recording as a leader. midwest record has praised it as "one of the great debuts of all time". folk & acoustic music exchange proclaims that hartley "will have jarrett and corea stepping back, uttering a daunted 'whoa!'... if they haven't already". jazztimes says that hartley's "debut cd was well worth the wait...". craig released his second full- length album, books on tape vol. 2 - standard edition, in the fall of 2016. it received critical acclaim, was featured on npr's weekend edition, and was listed on numerous top 10 albums of the year lists and new york observer's "20 best jazz albums of 2016".
craig is the recurring music producer for high art/fashion media company visionaire. recent clients include coach, valentino, harry winston, samsung and comme des garçons. one project had craig producing and composing music for a vr film featuring the legendary artist kaws in celebration of m&m's 75th anniversary. it premiered at the new york public library in 2017 and was nominated for a webby. in addition, craig's music has been featured in art exhibitions in new york, moscow, and beijing.
craig regularly tours internationally and has performed at events such as art basel in miami, the veneto jazz festival in italy, and the numazu festival for international design in japan.