Bruce Katz Band

Bruce Katz is a North American musician. Since 1995, he has been on the staff at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. His career started playing piano and bass guitar with various bands in Baltimore. He then decided to concentrate on piano and Hammond organ, and in particular, jazz 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, Bruce moved on to play with Barrence Whitfield and the Savages. While in this band, Bruce had the opportunity to tour all over Europe playing clubs, festivals and making television appearances. From Barrence Whitfield and the Savages Bruce moved on to playing Organ and piano as well as writing and co-writing material for Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. By this time Bruce 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, Bruce had not only formed his own band and began recording on the AudioQuest label but was still maintaining the touring schedule with the Broadcasters. After leaving the Broadcasters in 1997 to concentrate on the Bruce Katz Band, Bruce has maintained his own touring schedule, and released a total of 5 CDs, while also recording and touring with many other artists, such as Duke Robillard, Debbie Davies, David "Fathead" Newman, John Hammond and others. Currently, in 2007, Bruce is a regular member of Gregg Allman and Friends, John Hammond Quartet, Alexis P. Suter Band, The Organiks, and continues to tour with his own group. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Rarely does a musician display brilliant dexterity, coupled with sparks of creativity, equally in both blues and jazz. One such rare bird is Bruce Katz, who not only meets these characteristics, but excels in his understanding of the genres and unleashes the strongest assets of each. Best known as a member of Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, Katz took up music at age five when he outperformed his sister at the classical pieces she was assigned for piano lessons. Discovering classic jazz and a Bessie Smith record planted the seeds of a passion for jazz and blues. In the early '80s his first major supporting gig was Big Mama Thornton; he then worked and toured with Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Witherspoon, Johnny Adams, and Tiger Okoshi. Burned out from life on the road, he enrolled at New England Conservatory, earning a master's degree in jazz. Five months after graduation, Katz met Ronnie Earl, who hired him. During his nearly five-year stint with Earl, Katz performed on six CDs, and also co-wrote songs with Earl, including "The Colour of Love," "Ice Cream Man," and "Hippology." In 1992 Katz debuted his first solo album, Crescent Crawl, then released Transformation the following year. Just before the release of Mississippi Moan, Katz left the Broadcasters to concentrate further on his solo career. His album roster includes 1993's Transformation, 1997's Mississippi Moan, 2000's Three Feet to the Ground, 2004's Deeper Blue, and 2008's Live! At the Firefly. Katz has also been a member of Gregg Allman's group, and has toured as pianist with the Allman Brothers Band. In addition to performing and recording, Katz teaches piano and is an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music, where he taught the school's first ever in-depth blues course. ~ Char Ham, Rovi Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.