Dick Katz

A versatile pianist and arranger, Dick Katz was responsible for many stimulating and memorable recordings through the years, often as an important sideman and/or producer. He studied at the Peabody Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, and Juilliard, in addition to taking piano lessons from <a href="spotify:artist:0tg5uVI4VjzZOFzBryJZii">Teddy Wilson</a>. In the 1950s, he picked up important experience as a member of the house rhythm section of the Café Bohemia, with the groups of <a href="spotify:artist:34W7ZCX0LZeJd8q6boKGOk">Ben Webster</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2fMvylhnE23sAlyePKK8er">Kenny Dorham</a>, the <a href="spotify:artist:3DuKJapiJ2AUvoIJq1ZJFb">Oscar Pettiford</a> big band, and later with <a href="spotify:artist:2E3nXyfocf7qfHAIFNbBuj">Carmen McRae</a>. Katz was part of the popular J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding Quintet (1954-1955) and <a href="spotify:artist:31CcS6c7frT7XkSRTSAMsM">Orchestra USA</a>, and participated on <a href="spotify:artist:5dlCVmfRbWVGOJYHzGyk32">Benny Carter</a>'s classic Further Definitions album. He freelanced throughout much of his career and was a guiding force behind some of <a href="spotify:artist:4JHlHSUko0ivu6fXYT8J2q">Helen Merrill</a>'s finest recordings. Katz, who played with <a href="spotify:artist:4RvXA7BDgqNgGDjsSSJnPc">Roy Eldridge</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4YNvbaOaqp5pzC5US5t48k">Lee Konitz</a> starting in the late '60s, co-founded <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Milestone+Records%22">Milestone Records</a> in 1966 with <a href="spotify:artist:00LhlE1AWV16oHX3YwNwQJ">Orrin Keepnews</a>. In the 1990s, Dick Katz worked both as a pianist and an arranger with <a href="spotify:artist:6kMPr4X7C4LNE9V932N4WA">the American Jazz Orchestra</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0z5BdC8AiohcsJBSCEz6bY">Loren Schoenberg</a>'s big band. Unfortunately, he did not recorded all that frequently as a leader, cutting fairly obscure dates for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a> (1957 and 1959), <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bee+Hive%22">Bee Hive</a> (1984), and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reservoir%22">Reservoir</a> (1992), but the jazz world was well aware of his talents. Dick Katz died in Manhattan in November 2009 at the age of 85. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi