Bruce Katz
Bruce Katz (born August 19, 1952) is an American musician, playing piano, organ and bass guitar. Since 1996, he has been on the faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston as an associate professor.
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[edit] Biography
Katz commenced his musical career playing piano and bass guitar with various bands in Baltimore. He then decided to concentrate on piano and Hammond organ, and in particular, jazz and blues music. After playing jazz in Boston, he got the opportunity to play bass guitar for Big Mama Thornton. This reconnected him with his love of Blues music, which has been his main musical genre since that time. From that band, Katz moved on to play with Barrence Whitfield and the Savages. While in this band, Katz had the opportunity to tour all over Europe and the U.S., playing clubs, festivals and making television appearances.
From Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, Katz moved on to playing Organ and piano as well as writing and co-writing material for Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. By this time, Katz had been on several different recording sessions with the bands he had played with as well as special guesting on sessions for other artists.
While with Ronnie Earl, Katz had not only formed his own band and began recording on the Sledgehammer Blues (formerly AudioQuest Music) label but was still maintaining the touring schedule with the Broadcasters. After leaving the Broadcasters in 1997 to concentrate on the Bruce Katz Band, Katz has maintained his own touring schedule, and released a total of six CDs, while also recording and touring with many other artists, such as Delbert McClinton, Duke Robillard, Joe Louis Walker, Debbie Davies, David "Fathead" Newman, John Hammond and others.
Currently, in 2011, Katz is a regular member of Gregg Allman and Friends, Delbert McClinton's Band, the John Hammond Quartet and continues to tour with his own group, The Bruce Katz Band. He also toured in 2009 with the Allman Brothers, playing piano. He is a 2008, 2009 and 2010 Blues Music Award nominee (formerly called the W.C. Handy Award) for "Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year". In 2009 he also released an album that he co-lead with saxophonist Joel Frahm, called Project A. It was an instrumental tribute to Aretha Franklin, featuring a nine piece band, including Franklin's original bassist and current Gregg Allman Band bassist Jerry Jemmott. In 2011 Bruce helped found a band called the "CKS Band" (Ciarlante, Katz and Sharrard) with Gregg Allman guitarist/singer Scott Sharrard and former member of "The Band" Randy Ciarlante (drums/vocals).
[edit] Discography
| Title | Release | Record label |
|---|---|---|
| Crescent Crawl | 1992 | AudioQuest Music[1] |
| Transformation | 1994 | AudioQuest Music[2] |
| Mississippi Moan | 1997 | AudioQuest Music[3] |
| Three Feet Off The Ground | 2000 | AudioQuest Music[4] |
| A Deeper Blue | 2004 | Severn Records |
| Live! At the Firefly | 2008 | Brown Dog Music / VizzTone |
[edit] References
- ^ "Crescent Crawl". Valley Entertainment. http://www.valley-entertainment.com/crescent-crawl-1.html. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
- ^ "Transformation". Valley Entertainment. http://www.valley-entertainment.com/transformation-1.html. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
- ^ "Mississippi Moan". Valley Entertainment. http://www.valley-entertainment.com/mississippi-moan-1.html. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
- ^ "Three Feet Off The Ground". Valley Entertainment. http://www.valley-entertainment.com/three-feet-off-the-ground-3.html. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
[edit] External links
- Bruce Katz Band
- http://www.browndogmusic.com
- http://www.oceansidetalent.com
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bruce-Katz-Band/348087790492
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