DISCOGRAPHY AS A LEADER
SOLO RIDE
Aug 2019
Many of my favorite moments on my albums have been the occasional solo piano moments. I wondered if I could pull off a completely solo acoustic piano album. The result is “Solo Ride”, which is an album I’m very proud of. It contains all original tunes (except one) like all of my albums and the CD is stylistically anything from the 1930s to the present. New Orleans, Stride, Boogie Woogie, Gospel and Country all meet on this album!
GET YOUR GROOVE
May 2017
It’s probably true that your most recent album is your favorite…but I love this album! A very eclectic album, it features “Freight Train”, a tune I wrote for my friend and former bandleader Butch Trucks from the Allman Brothers. His drumming partner Jaimoe plays drums on that tune and two others. The title track takes me back to the New Orleans style piano that I love and the playing from everyone is superb. This album marks the first appearance of Ray Hangen on drums.
OUT FROM THE CENTER
January 2016
I decided to include some “jam” type tunes on this album. My roots are in the San Francisco bands like the Grateful Dead, and I had been playing with Gregg and the Allman Brothers so it felt natural. I also thought we should feature Chris more and he is right on the cover along with me on that one! Chris sings and plays great throughout.
HOMECOMING
May 2014
After playing with Gregg Allman for 6 years, and Delbert McClinton for 3, I had put the Bruce Katz Band on hiatus. So “Homecoming” in 2014 was exactly that….a return to my own music with many musicians I considered part of my family. John Hammond plays and sings two tunes, Jimmy Bennett sings a couple of tunes and plays brilliantly, Chris and Ralph are back as well. This is the first Bruce Katz Band album that I play Hammond bass on, and the first one with many vocals. This is also the first album I recorded for Ben Elliot and American Showplace Music, which turned out to be a long and fruitful relationship.
LIVE! AT THE FIREFLY
January 2008
We wanted to make a “live” album, so we picked one our favorite clubs in the country - The Firefly Club in Ann Arbor, MI. Besides great audiences, it also had a Steinway piano, a big plus for me! Recorded over two nights with new guitarist Chris Vitarello, this album really captures the spirit and excitement of a live gig and was brilliantly recorded by Mark Byerly.
A DEEPER BLUE
2004
We wanted to make a “live” album, so we picked one our favorite clubs in the country - The Firefly Club in Ann Arbor, MI. Besides great audiences, it also had a Steinway piano, a big plus for me! Recorded over two nights with new guitarist Chris Vitarello, this album really captures the spirit and excitement of a live gig and was brilliantly recorded by Mark Byerly.
THREE FEET OFF THE GROUND
2000
Featuring the same players as Mississippi Moan (except Blake Newman on bass), this is the heaviest Hammond B3 groove album of mine. Julien really lets loose with his Hendrix/Beck/Blues hybrid guitar playing and I am mostly playing overdriven B3. Duke Robillard makes an appearance on two tunes.
MISSISSIPPI MOAN
1997
This album had an entirely new band - Julien Kasper on guitar, Ralph Rosen on drums and Mark Poniatowski on bass. It also had a very different sound - more of a heavier blues and rocking album, but still bouncing around the jazz and blues world I like to inhabit. Soul/Blues legend Mighty Sam McClain appears on this album, singing two tunes that he and I co-wrote.
TRANSFORMATION
1994
This is a more of a jazz album with avant garde overtones. I’m playing mostly piano, featuring the same players as Crescent Crawl, but with Tom Hall replacing Bob Malach on sax. I love this album….I’ve heard some fans call this my “experimental” album!
CRESCENT CRAWL
1992
This was my first album and after years of being a sideman to others, I decided to let my imagination run wild thru jazz, blues, soul and sometimes “free” weird music! It opens with a long solo piano intro to the tune “Crescent Crawl” which I have always felt sums up most of what I am musically about!