Dick Katz

Throughout his career, Dick Katz earned recognition as a skilled pianist and arranger whose contributions shaped numerous memorable jazz sessions, frequently in the role of sideman or producer. His formal training took place at the Peabody Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, and Juilliard, supplemented by private study with Teddy Wilson. During the 1950s he gained valuable experience as a member of the house rhythm section at Café Bohemia, performing alongside Ben Webster’s and Kenny Dorham’s groups as well as the Oscar Pettiford big band, and later joined Carmen McRae. He also appeared in the J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding Quintet from 1954 to 1955 and in Orchestra USA, and he contributed to Benny Carter’s album Further Definitions. Freelancing remained central to his work, yet he exerted considerable influence over several of Helen Merrill’s most distinguished recordings. Beginning in the late 1960s, Katz performed regularly with Roy Eldridge and Lee Konitz; in 1966 he joined Orrin Keepnews in establishing Milestone Records. The 1990s found him active as both pianist and arranger with the American Jazz Orchestra and Loren Schoenberg’s big band. Although he seldom led his own sessions, issuing relatively little-known albums on Atlantic in 1957 and 1959, Bee Hive in 1984, and Reservoir in 1992, his abilities were widely acknowledged within the jazz community. Dick Katz passed away in Manhattan during November 2009 at the age of 85.