Bruce Katz has been nominated for the Blues Music Award (W.C.) four times (2008, 2009 and 2010, 2015). Handy Award) for the “Pinetop Perkins piano player of the year”, which was selected by the Blues Foundation of Memphis. Blues is an important part of Bruce’s music. However, Bruce’s music contains more influences and angles than blues. He occupies a unique space between blues, jam-band rock and all aspects Americana Music, creating his own style of original music. He can play both the Hammond B-3 Organ or the Piano. Bruce Katz Band is also a member of the Delbert McClinton Band. He performs with Jaimoe’s Jassz Band and John Hammond. Maria Muldaur, Maria Muldaur, and many other artists. From 2007 to 2013, he was part of the Gregg Allman band. Bruce has been a sought-after sideman and leader of his own band for the past 25 years. Bruce has recorded and played with many top blues and roots musicians, including Ronnie Earl, John Hammond and Delbert McClinton. He also appeared on more than 70 albums with such artists as Ronnie Earl and Maria Muldaur. Bruce has a long history in classical piano. When he was 10, he heard a Bessie Smith recording and began learning blues and early jazz piano. After hearing boogie-woogie, swing music, he continued his musical journey to learn more about jazz and American roots music. In the mid-1970s Bruce was a student at Berklee College of Music, where he studied composition and performance. He performed for fifteen years with some of New England’s most prominent musicians and stayed on the road for long periods of time. After a long tour with Barrence Whitfield, the Savages in the late 1980s, he decided not to continue touring and enrolled at New England Conservatory of Music, Boston. He earned a Master’s in Jazz Performance and studied under George Russell, Paul Bley and Cecil McBee. He started to write music during this period, and it was then that the Bruce Katz Band was born. Ronnie Earl invited Katz to join his band, The Broadcasters, in 1992. Katz performed six albums and wrote and co-wrote many of the tunes during his five-year tenure with Earl. The Downbeat Critics Poll was awarded the Best Blues Album 1996 for i??Grateful Hearti??. Katz also released his first solo album, “Crescent Crawl”, in 1992 on the AudioQuest label. The following year, he released “Transformation”. Katz quit the Broadcasters in 1997 to pursue a solo career. The Bruce Katz Band started touring the U.S., Europe and Asia at that time. This has been his main focus in addition to many other projects. Bruce has played with Duke Robillard (2001-02), John Hammond(2005 i?? to present), Gregg Allman (1907-13), and many other prominent roots, blues, and rock musicians while continuing to tour with his own band. Brucei??s 2008 CD, i??Live! The CD, i??Live! (Brown Dog Music/Vizztone), received high praise. The CD reached #11 on the National Living Blues Radio Chart and was heavily played on XM/Sirius Satellite Radio. His newest CD, i??Homecoming, (American Showplace Music), 2014, is receiving wide radio play and international acclaim. This album is at or near top of many radio charts. Bruce has been featured in numerous blues and jazz magazines around the globe. Katz performs and teaches theory, piano, Hammond organ, and Hammond organ privately at his West Shokan studio. For 14 years, he taught in the Harmony and Pianist Departments at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has also conducted Master Classes in Blues History and Hammond B3 at numerous music festivals around the world. Bruce, who was born in Boston, has now settled in Woodstock, NY. Bruce Katz Band has a busy tour schedule in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. from www.brucekatzband.com
