Craig’s family molded him to be a performer. With
dancing, music, voice lessons, Craig making his first stage
appearance at the age of eight, with this Craig knows what a
performance feels like from both sides of the stage. His
family has spanned five generations in the entertainment
industry and Craig brings almost a century’s worth of his
family’s knowledge and experience to everything he does.
It began with his maternal
grandmother, Billie Campbell who was a dancer in New York in
the heyday of the Harlem showrooms. She danced at clubs such
as “The Cotton Club” and “Immermans Inn”, toured with such
productions such as “The "Ziegfeld Follies” and the 1932
“Ziegfeld” production of “Showboat” (Being handpicked by
Florenz Ziegfeld), and was in movies such as “Rufus Jones
For President”. She was even in the show “Conies Hot
Chocolates”, in which Louis Armstrong changed the world of
Jazz music one night by “scatting” for the first time to the
song “Ain’t Misbehaving” when he forgot the words to the
second verse. And his grandfather Wardell “Preacher” Jones,
a well known trumpet player who gained his nickname by
inventing a style of playing that made his horn “talk” (the
technique known as “preaching”). He also performed with
artists such as W C Handy, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie ,
and Duke Ellington to name a few. The next generation
included his aunt Billie who was one of the top models of
her day as well as having had dance lessons from people
as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Her image is still being used
to this day by companies such as WGN in Chicago. And her
first husband Ewart Abner who as president of Chicago
based "Vee Jay" records in the 1950's gave The Beatles their
first recording contract. After leaving Vee Jay, Abner went
to work as president of "Motown" records in the late
1950's. At Motown he helped shape the music that we listen
to everyday. In '77 Mr. Abner left Motown to peruse a career
in artist management. His client Stevie Wonder...
The next generation included their
daughter who appeared as "Miss Nitchka". She toured the
world with acts as Lionel Hampton and appeared in television
shows such as "Room 222" and "The Name of The Game", as well
as being a much sought after model. Today she runs the
dance school "Studio One" in Burlington, Wisconsin.
Even Craig's father Cal Gaff a
well known Los Angeles radio personality and "beat" poet in
the 50's, was
featured in not one but two articles in "Playboy
Magazine" on the L.A. "beat" scene.
Together they set the standard of excellence for the family
to always do your best, and to always be above reproach.
Down through the years members of Craig’s family have always
worked in the industry. From dancers, musicians,
models, and actors to artist managers, record label
executives, and video production. If there is a job
in entertainment, someone in Craig’s family has done it.
In the latter years of high school, Craig began to turn his
attention away from being in the limelight, towards being
behind the scenes. Craig set out to learn the ins and outs
of this aspect of the industry from family and
friends at the top of their fields. They instilled the
pursuit of excellence, while always remaining humble.
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