Morgan Kraft

Morgan Kraft (ASCAP) is a composer and band leader. He performs and records with the Kraft Quartet and is a producer/engineer. Morgan Kraft's primary instrument is a fretless guitar.

Background

Morgan Kraft is a classically-trained composer who was born in Seattle, WA in 1972. He attended high school in Laramie, WY, spent 1992-1997 studying composition with Sherwood Shaffer at the North Carolina School of the Arts, also studying conducting with Serge Zehnacker, piano with Douglas Buys and theory with Kenneth Frazelle.

Recording and performance career

Since departing music conservatory in 1997, Morgan Kraft has worked in the rock/pop genre, with exceptions being the electronic music piece "Alone" featuring text by Edgar Allan Poe and the voice of New York Metropolitan Opera Soprano Jennifer Welsch, a duet for Oboe and Viola recorded by Coa Schwab and Richard O'Neill and an orchestra work commissioned by the North Carolina Chamber Symphony. He has worked with trumpet player Bryan Lipps and toured as a bassist with Greg Garing. He was featured on the Fretless Guitar compilation CD "Village of the Unfretted". His recording credits include production and engineering including assistant engineer credits on records for Nappy Brown, Brian Vander Ark, Insanity Wave, Drunk Stuntmen, Birds of Avalon, Amy Speace and producer/engineer credits for the Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble, Wayne Robbins and the Hellsayers, and the Kraft Quartet. He has also has worked with musicians Bob Margolin, Sean Costello, Tom "Mookie Brill, Willie Weeks, Joe Vitale, Steuart Smith, and producers/engineers Mark Williams, Mitch Easter and mulitple Grammy Award winners (producer/engineer) Bill Szymczyk and Jaime Lagueruela.

Instruments

*Bolin Guitars. Custom made fretless guitar by John Bolin of Boise, Idaho.
*Fender Stratocaster. Converted by Ed Picard of Northampton, Massachusetts.

Discography

*Kraft Quartet - "Nervous Boogie" released on Microearth Records, 2008 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wnfuxzujld6e~T2 All Music Guide entry]

*Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble - "Ten Songs" released on Microearth Records, 2008 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jvfoxzwjld6e All Music Guide entry]

*Kraft Quartet - "EP" released on Microearth Records, 2007 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0cfrxztjldde All Music Guide entry]

*Morgan Kraft - "Don't Fade Away" released on Microearth Records, 2006 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wvfrxqudld0e All Music Guide entry]

*Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble - "Three Pieces" released on Microearth Records, 2005 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gjfyxqlsldhe All Music Guide entry] credits include bass guitar and co-production with Aaron Bachelder

*Various Artists - "Village of the Unfretted" released on [http://www.unfretted.com Unfretted Records] in the UK, 2005 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:avfuxzr5ldae All Music Guide entry]

Newspaper Articles

*Excerpt from a review of a live show "Particles of Power Chords" by Ken Maiuri from the Daily Hampshire Gazette"Crowley and company weren't your average sloppy rock band . . . they'd obviously honed their skills as a unit, and played tightly and solidly. Some of their songs had slightly progressive detours, but only for an odd bridge section here and there. Otherwise the music was basic, blunt and tough. The highlights ended up being [Morgan Kraft's] own "Great Riff in A," a phenomenon in which rock bands, probably not on purpose, build a song around a variation of the classic opening riff of "I Want To Tell You" by the Beatles like "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by the Monkees, "Who Is Moving" by the Lilys, "I'll Be There For You" by the Rembrandts, "Doing Nothing" by Of Montreal, the list goes on . . . . [Morgan's] "Peggy Sue Ain't Got Nothing On You" song was propulsive and catchy, and those watching the band were visibly into it.”
* [http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=7570 from the Valley Advocate, 4-24-2008]
* [http://www.winstonsalemjournal.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_RelishArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031784542148 from the Winston Salem Journal, 8-25-2005]
* [http://www.planetjh.com/issues/2005_11_23.pdf from the Planet Jackson Hole, 11-23-2005]

External links

* [http://www.morgankraft.com Official Site]
* [http://www.microearthrecords.com Record Label]