Craden Works

All of the original works displayed in this video are available for purchase. For information contact: [email protected] Michael Craden (1941-1982), is remembered by percussionists as a member of NEXUS, especially for his improvisations on drums and “toys” during the ensemble’s ragtime performances. However, Craden’s real passion was graphic art, which brought him to the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. Through friendships with Emil Richards, Don and Rowena Preston, Paul Beaver, and later Harry Partch, Craden begin to synthesize his art with a passion for music. Exposed to Indian rhythms by New Delhi tabla and sitar musician Hari-Har Rao, he began to assimilate and process numerical patterns, mathematical ratios, microtonal tuning, and rhythm as inherently related to art before his move to Toronto, where he became acquainted with the members of Nexus. The renowned percussionist, Emil Richards, credited Craden as being “one of the forbearers of the free-form art movement of the early ’60s.” Richards wrote in 1996: “My favorite memory of [Craden] is that most of his artwork made me laugh. There was such humor in his art. And there was nothing he couldn’t do rhythmically. In the Indian system, we never had to worry about quarter notes, eighth notes, any of that. All we did was play these elaborate patterns of numbers. He started to get into art with his rhythms, too, toward the end. He was a very talented man.”