Jazz concert combines creativity, mental health awareness

Craig Brenner said he has always tried to make his music upbeat.

And on Saturday, the local jazz pianist, along with his band the Crawdads and several other friends proved that at their “Dance to Live, Live to Love” benefit concert at the Bloomington Monroe County Convention Center supporting Bloomington’s Art of Mental Health Week, as well as the release of their new CD called “Live to Love.”

The concert was a culmination of week-long events around Bloomington intended to raise awareness about mental health, said Jane McLeod, who was the coordinator for this year’s Art of Mental Health Week and is also an IU professor of sociology.

“The Art of Mental Health is an annual event that began four years ago cosponsored by Mental Health America of Monroe County, Centerstone, Inc. and the Bloomington Hospital,” McLeod said. “It is a series of events that is designed to highlight the connections between mental health and creativity, to provide public education about mental health, and to diminish the stigma associated with mental health problems and mental illness.”

Brenner said he and his band were able to coincide the release of their new CD with the benefit concert after talking with McLeod, who he said was looking for a band that could make the concert more dance-oriented.

The concert’s “Dance to Live, Live to Love” theme was magnified by the presence of several other musicians on stage besides the original Crawdads, which Brenner said usually includes anywhere from five to eight people.

On Saturday, Brenner played along with twelve other musicians, all of whom, he said, were part of the original recording process for “Live to Love”.

And because the concert coincided with the culmination of the Art of Mental Health week, Brenner said he was excited to show off the positive and upbeat characteristics of his music, especially on “Live to Love”, which he said is his fifth full-length release and the first to actually include his band the Crawdads in the title.

Brenner said there are some parallels between his newest songs and many of the themes of the week.

For the rest of the coverage of "Dance to Live, Live to Love" check out Monday's IDS.