Artist Spotlight: BRUCE KATZ BAND EMBARK ON ‘SOAK UP THE SUN’ TOUR
KATZ, RENOWNED HAMMOND B-3 KEYBOARDIST/IN-DEMAND SESSION PLAYER, IS A 4-TIME BMA NOMINEE AND LATE OF BUTCH TRUCKS & THE FREIGHT TRAIN, ABB SPINOFF LES BRERS
Performing Locally: BLUE NOTE GRILL – Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Bruce Katz, renowned Hammond B-3 organist/keyboardist and four-time Blues Music Award nominee, and his Bruce Katz Band, embark on their ‘Soak Up The Sun’ Tour, with a local performance at the Blue Note Grill, 709 Washington St., Wednesday, January 31. Showtime: 8:00 pm. Tickets $10.00 (advance), $12:00 (door). Info: (919) 401-1979 or visit http://www.thebluenotegrill.com/.
In addition to leading the Bruce Katz Band, Katz has performed with the Delbert McClinton Band, Ronnie Earl, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, and John Hammond, the latter whom he still plays with on occasion. Katz brought his cool ‘jam-band’ sounds last summer to, among others, Riverfront Fest, Roots Rhythm & Blues Fest, Big Buggs Island Blues Bash (headliner), and famed BB King’s Blues Club in New York City.
Katz – a member of the Gregg Allman Band from 2007-2013 – also continues to tour as a member of Les Brers, featuring former members of the Allman Brothers, and was a full-time member of Butch Trucks and the Freight Train, fronted by the legendary ex-Allman Bros. drummer who passed away a year ago January.
What the Media Is Saying About Bruce Katz Band
“Bruce Katz’s playing is like, if Django ran into John Coltrane, and they ran into The Clash, and then they ran into Ronnie Earl, that would be him!”
“One of the most respected keyboardists on the blues circuit”
“Out From The Center is an eclectic sampling of Katz’s world of the blues – from jam tunes to traditional piano numbers to his boogie-woogie “soul-jazz.”
“Hearing and seeing the Bruce Katz Band live is a special experience. They take you to church in the sense of the gospel experience of rising tides of emotion and jubilation. The sounds of the organ as played by Katz are extremely visceral, rumbling up from the floorboards, through your feet, into your stomach, and you are literally feeling the music.”
About Bruce Katz
Bruce Katz’s music occupies a unique space where blues, soul/jazz, jam-band rock, and all aspects of Americana music collide into a style of original music all his own. As a performer, Bruce has been an in-demand sideman as well as leading his own band – playing and recording with many of the leading names in blues and roots music, appearing on over 70 albums with artists such as Ronnie Earl, John Hammond, Delbert McClinton, Gregg Allman, Duke Robillard, Joe Louis Walker, Little Milton, Maria Muldaur, Jimmy Witherspoon, Paul Rishell, Mighty Sam McClain, Debbie Davies, David “Fathead” Newman and many others.
Katz has a lengthy background in classical piano. After hearing a Bessie Smith record at the age of ten, he started teaching himself blues and early jazz on the piano. Bruce then heard boogie-woogie and swing music and continued his musical journey into more aspects of jazz and American roots music. He attended Berklee College of Music in the mid-1970s, studying Composition and performance.
For the next fifteen years, Katz performed with many of the leading musicians in New England, and played “on the road” for long stretches of time. After a particularly long stint of touring in the late ’80s with Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, Katz decided to come off the road and enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he earned a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance. It was during this time that he conceived of and started writing music that became the Bruce Katz Band.
In 1992, Bruce met Ronnie Earl, who soon invited him to join his band, The Broadcasters. During his nearly five-year stint with Earl, Katz toured the world and performed on six albums, writing and co- writing many of the band’s tunes, such as “The Colour of Love,” “Ice Cream Man,” and “Hippology.” The album “Grateful Heart” (Bullseye) won the Downbeat Critics Poll for Best Blues Album of 1996.
The same year, Katz debuted his first solo album, “Crescent Crawl”, on the AudioQuest label. He released “Transformation” the following year. Just before the release of “Mississippi Moan” in 1997, his third solo album, Katz left the Broadcasters to concentrate on a solo career. At that point, the Bruce Katz Band began touring the U.S. and Europe, and has been his ongoing focus, in addition to his many other projects. Bruce also played with Duke Robillard (2001-02), John Hammond (2005 – present), Gregg Allman (2007-13) and many other high-profile roots, blues and rock performers, while continuing to tour and record with his own band.
In addition to performing, Katz teaches piano, Hammond organ and theory privately at his studio in West Shokan, NY. He also conducts Master Classes in Hammond B3 and Blues History, which he has done at various schools and music festivals worldwide. Formerly from Boston, Bruce has been based in Woodstock, NY since 2005.
Bruce Katz Band ‘Soak Up The Sun’ Tour Itinerary
Jan. 31 (Wed.) BLUE NOTE GRILL Durham, NC
Feb. 2 (Fri.) BLUE JAY LISTENING ROOM Jacksonville, FL
Feb. 3 (Sat.) BRADFORDVILLE BLUES CLUB Tallahassee, FL
Feb. 6 (Tues.) BOSTON’S ON THE BEACH Delray Beach, FL
Feb. 7 (Wed.) ENGLEWOODS ON DEARBORN Englewood, FL
Feb. 8 (Thur.) TERRA FERMATA Stuart, FL
Feb. 9 (Fri.) HEIDI’S JAZZ CLUB Cocoa Beach, FL
Feb. 11 (Sun.) EARL’S HIDEAWAY Sebastian, FL
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