Craig Taubman

Craig Taubman ranked among the limited number of live performers showcased on the Disney label, generating immediate attention in the children’s market through multiple releases during the early 1990s. His pop-styled albums intended for young listeners earned favorable attention, positioning his ensemble Craig ’N Company as a consistent draw on the children’s pop concert circuit. Eventually Taubman “returned to his roots,” turning instead to projects that aligned more closely with his personal interests. The resulting recordings—lively explorations of Jewish history and culture created expressly for youngsters—resonated strongly with much of his audience while collecting several honors.

Born in Tennessee in 1958, Taubman grew up in a musically active household. His brother Gene and sister Caren also performed; Caren (Glasser) maintained her own children’s music career in the 1980s under Kid Rhino. The family relocated to California during the 1960s, and Taubman attended Los Angeles Hebrew High School, where he produced his first album, a religious outreach recording aimed at teenagers.

He later studied at UCLA and Hebrew University before beginning a pop vocal career in 1973. By 1979 he had moved into the children’s field, collaborating with his sister Caren on the albums Makin’ Music and Pennies for Your Thoughts. Repeated performances throughout the greater Los Angeles area helped him build a sizable following, and he began composing material for children’s videos and films.

Taubman’s profile rose sharply in the early 1990s after he joined the newly formed “Music Box” roster at Walt Disney Records. In two years he completed three albums: Morning ’N Night and Rock ’N Together in 1992, followed by Rock ’N Toontown in 1993. Craig ’N Company was also one of only two established children’s acts chosen to share the bill with prominent pop artists such as Paula Abdul and Michael Bolton on the widely attended For Our Children: The Concert during the same period.

After Disney removed all its human performers from the roster, Taubman rebounded swiftly with Imaginit, which received the Dove Award in 1996. He founded his own label to issue additional secular material.

The Craig ’N Company imprint began operations in 1995 with My Jewish Discovery, winner of a Parent’s Choice Award. The album offered carefully crafted educational yet humorous songs, among them “Deli-lightful,” which conveyed the concept of “kosher” in language accessible to children. Two years later he released the equally well-received My Newish Jewish Discovery, which further developed the same theme and earned another Parent’s Choice Award.