Dick Katz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Aaron Katz(born March 13, 1924 in Baltimore) is a jazz pianist known as Dick Katz who is probably best known for being the pianist of the Ray Ellington Quartet.
In his youth he studied at the Peabody and the University of North Carolina. In the 1940s he studied at Juilliard School with Teddy Wilson. He became known in jazz in the 1950s for working with figures like J.J. Johnson and Ben Webster. However, his major breakthrough came when he became the pianist in the Ray Ellington Quartet when they formed in 1950. Soon after, the group was signed to perform one musical item every week on The Goon Show. This eventually led to Dick Katz (along with the rest of the members) becoming internationally famous.
In 1961 he played piano for Webster's Further Definitions album and after that he was an important figure behind Helen Merrill's records. He also was a pianist and arranger for the American Jazz Orchestra and co-founded Milestone Records.
