BOOKINGS

Listen to Saxophonist Tony Craddock, Jr. & Cold Front

“…I think [Tony Craddock, Jr.] might have the best ‘how I got into the music I play’ story that I’ve ever heard. I really love this.” – Chris Richards, Pop Music Critic, The Washington Post

BIO

“The maturity of his vision for life and music is quite compelling and is born out in the sound of his horn,” says Grammy® award-winning saxophonist & composer Kirk Whalum about emerging jazz saxophonist Tony Craddock, Jr. Tony’s discovery of smooth jazz on The Weather Channel’s “Local on the 8s” at age eight led him to the saxophone and cultivated his love for weather, culminating with him earning a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Cornell University. Now, he uplifts listeners with inspirational melodies that connect with emotions people experience from the weather, reaching more than 30,000 monthly listeners worldwide through Spotify, with his music also reaching U.S. audiences nationwide on Sirius XM Radio and Music Choice.

Tony’s newest album H₂O (released in 2018) is produced by chart-topping jazz guitarist Ken Navarro and features Kirk Whalum on a soul stirring offering of “Amazing Grace.” The release earned Tony three nominations for the D.C. area Wammie Awards in the categories of best jazz album, best jazz song, and best jazz group with Tony Craddock, Jr. & Cold Front.The lead single “Living Water” (featuring Navarro) has aired on Sirius XM Watercolors, Music Choice Smooth Jazz and more than forty radio stations in the U.S., U.K. and Poland. His prior releases include Convection (2013), and Christmas in the Air (2011), which aired on The Weather Channel “Local on the 8s,” bringing Tony’s musical journey full circle to the origin of his love for weather and jazz.

In December 2018, Tony released a saxophone cover of the 2018 Dove Award-winning and Billboard Gospel #1 hit song “Won’t He Do It” (by Koryn Hawthorne), garnering the approval of the songwriter, Grammy Award-winning Makeba Riddick-Woods.

Tony has performed at City Winery D.C., Bethesda Blues & Jazz, Blues Alley, the National Gallery of Art’s Jazz in the Garden (D.C. area), The Tin Pan and WTVR-CBS 6 (Richmond, VA), and other notable venues in the Mid-Atlantic and South. He has also been blessed to share the stage with award-winning artists Norman Connors, Jean Carne, Ken Navarro, Ben Tankard, Luther Barnes and Kim Jordan.

Tony leads the inspirational jazz band Tony Craddock, Jr. & Cold Front, which blends jazz, gospel and R&B/soul. He is also a voting member of the Recording Academy and an endorsing artist of the Fiberreed.

Tony believes his music has nothing to do with him, but rather the gifts with which God has blessed him. He is a native of Woodbridge, VA and currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife Danielle and daughter Natalie.

Read Tony’s full bio here!

Listen to Tony’s story here in his interview with Talking Smooth Jazz!