​CRAIG JASTER

Craig Jaster came of age in Washington, DC, steeped in the local music scene of roots, rock, soul and jazz. He studied piano under Dennis Knight, accompanist at the Royal Opera House in London, and Gerda Klay until the age of 15. By then he was also playing mandolin and singing in folk rock bands at coffeehouses and dances. He credits his development as a musician to having had the great good fortune to see pianists Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, and Sun Ra at a very early age.

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While studying visual art and dance in college, he began accompanying modern dance in New York; a formative experience in improvisation and kinesthetics. He also began studying voice with jazz and new music vocalist Donna Jewel. After college, he became music director and performer with two children’s dance companies in New York. He moved to New Hampshire in 1987, where he began a career in arts education that included department head at an independent K-12 school. In addition, he  played keyboards and guitar in local rock and dance bands. Area jazz musicians took notice, and in time the primarily self-taught pianist evolved into a sought after sideman and session player for diverse local and touring artists, including trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, vocalist Philip Hamilton, and bluesman Big Joe Burrell. From 1999-2004 he was also adjunct jazz piano teacher 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 throughout Northern New England from 1993-2023, and produced their albums Ray’s Vacation, Spank That Tambourine, and Every Day We Play a New Song. 

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By 2015, his extensive catalog of vocal and instrumental compositions, easy rapport with audiences, and experienced, eclectic musical voice established his place as bandleader of his own groups, with whom he has recorded two albums: Craig Jaster Trio (2017) and Good Night Blues (2023). 

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He moved to Europe in 2017 and began making music and visual art full-time, performing with his Florence, Italy trio and returning in Summers to play with his New Hampshire-based groups.

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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).

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He now divides his time between New Hampshire and Maremma, Italy.