A native of rural Illinois, Schlatter’s music career started in his teenage years, when he began transcribing jazz pieces, composing instrumental piano music, and performing regionally and internationally. His early influences included George Winston, Thelonius Monk, Chick Corea, and Harry Connick, Jr. In 1996, Schlatter left Illinois for California to tour the Western United States as a jazz piano player for the U.S. Marine Corps Band.
Schlatter returned to Illinois in 2000. In 2003, with his composition The Gathering, Schlatter started writing music unifying his influence in jazz with the clear, simple melodies of traditional Celtic and Irish music. He released the CD, Spirit of the Prairie, in early 2005.
“Overall, Spirit of the Prairie shows a remarkable depth and maturity of technique and vision,†writes Bruce Bergethon, general manager of WGLT-FM in a review of Spirit of the Prairie. “For me, Craig Schlatter's music serves as a reminder that the instrumental performance format has substantial expressive terrain.†Selections of Spirit of the Prairie have been played on WGLT’s Sunday evening program, Acousticity.
Recently, Schlatter's music was featured as part of the Illinois State University Dance Theatre performance at the Center for Performing Arts. A program attended by nearly 1,000 people, Schlatter's piece entitled "Now, In This Moment" was choreographed for ten selected dancers. This piece, along with several others, will be featured on Schlatter's new CD, to be released sometime in late 2006/early 2007.
Track List:
1. The House
2. Just As I Am
3. Cold Front
4. O Waly, Waly
5. Spirit of the Prairie
6. Maitland
7. Greensleeves
8. Slane
9. The Gathering
10. Whiter Than Snow
11. Harvest
Suggested CDs:
Other Genres:
