Richard Aaron Katz was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and record producer
born March 13, 1924, in Baltimore, Maryland. Katz studied at the Peabody
Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, and Juilliard, and took piano lessons
from Teddy Wilson. In the 1950s, he joined the house rhythm section at the Café
Bohemia and performed in groups led by Ben Webster, Kenny Dorham, Oscar
Pettiford, and Carmen McRae. From 1954 to 1955, he played in the J. J. Johnson
and Kai Winding Quintet, and later performed on Benny Carter's album Further
Definitions (1961). In 1966, Katz co-founded M...