Kraig B. Greff, a professional musician who founded Tonal Vision, a production company, and co-founded The Crawdaddies, dies

In 1994, Kraig B. Greff was on the road with Diana Ross as her keyboard engineer (Baltimore Sun)





          



                         



                               


By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Kraig B. Greff, a professional musician who was a founder of The Crawdaddies, one of the East Coast’s preeminent Cajun/Zydeco bands, was also the founder of Tonal Vision LLC, a production company that produces original music for advertising, trade shows and other production work, died of injuries from an October automobile accident on the Jones Falls Expressway on Feb. 27 at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

The longtime Fells Point resident was 66.

“Kraig was a really good person, loyal friend, super funny and very outspoken,” said Chris Huntington, a guitarist and professional musician, who joined The Crawdaddies 25 years ago.

“He was the founding member of The Crawdaddies, and I joined the band in its early stages. His accordion and piano playing were the foundation of the band. He was a world-class player,” said Mr. Huntington, who also books musicians for casinos nationwide. “No one played the accordion like Kraig. He was a classically trained pianist and had a good ear.”

Benny Harrison, a producer and pianist, who played with many national acts including American guitarist Joe Bonamassa, recently recorded a CD on which he played with Mr. Greff.

He recalled his first meeting with Mr. Greff at an open mic night in New York.

“He came on stage and played, and when he stepped off, I said, ‘Who the hell is that guy?’” Mr. Harrison recalled with a laugh. “He was a classical accordionist who played the blues and New Orleans style of playing which was just excellent. He had a unique sounding voice and at 6-feet-four was a gentle giant.”

Christian Colberg, a violist and composer, who had played with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2010, and is now the principal violist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, first met Mr. Greff when he was a guest artist and they played a BSO concert together.

“We played the ‘Czardas’ by Vittorio Monti and he played the accordion,” Mr. Colberg said. “He had a great ear but had his own truths and he owned them. He was a very honest person and I’m so glad that he came into my life. I appreciated his connection to the humanities and the music he produced, and you couldn’t separate them.”

Kraig B. Greff
https://www.tonalvision.com/about/kraig-greff-bio.html