* En anglais uniquement
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
Teddy Wilson. In the 1950s, he picked up important experience as a member of the house rhythm section of the Café Bohemia, with the groups of
Ben Webster and
Kenny Dorham, the
Oscar Pettiford big band, and later with
Carmen McRae.
Katz was part of the popular J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding Quintet (1954-1955) and
Orchestra USA, and participated on
Benny Carter's classic
Further Definitions album. He freelanced throughout much of his career and was a guiding force behind some of
Helen Merrill's finest recordings.
Katz, who played with
Roy Eldridge and
Lee Konitz starting in the late '60s, co-founded Milestone Records in 1966 with
Orrin Keepnews. In the 1990s,
Dick Katz worked both as a pianist and an arranger with
the American Jazz Orchestra and
Loren Schoenberg's big band. Unfortunately, he did not recorded all that frequently as a leader, cutting fairly obscure dates for Atlantic (1957 and 1959), Bee Hive (1984), and Reservoir (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