Album Notes

Pianist Craig Larson was born in Preston, Idaho, to parents who encouraged his involvement with music at a very early age. At age fourteen he was playing regularly with his father's band--mostly for dances in the area where he learned a lot about about tempos and good, solid time. In 1965, at the age of 16, Larson won the prestigious "Benny Goodman Award" from Selmer Band Instruments and two years later played in the jazz quintet which represented the intermountain region at the National Collegiate Jazz Festival in St. Louis. Together with his trio and in other formats, Craig has performed in the Salt Lake area for the past 30 years. Craig has a definite predilection for American musical theater compositions and the popular songs of the 1920's, 30's and 40's and finds great satisfaction in adding his own distinctive harmonies and rhythmic nuances to their familiar melodies. Indeed, one of Craig's lifelong goals has been to perpetuate the music of the great American songwriters through the medium of acoustic, rhythmic jazz-the kind of toe-tapping, accessible music that puts smiles on faces. "Classic Standards" is Craig's first CD and he was fortunate to team with guitar great Frank Vignola, Eastman School of Music bassist Jeff Campbell, and long time friend and drummer Bob Campbell to produce some delightful tracks--no-gimicks, just unedited cuts of some of the great standards.

In March of 2002, Craig, joined by his son Matt Larson on bass and yet another of the world's great guitarists, Ron Eschete, released a second CD, "Legacy".

In October, Craig and his son Matt produced a Christmas CD entitled "Holiday Songbook".