By Will Roper
Photos by Brittany Ward
Feb. 27, 2018
The Bruce Katz Band performs at The Zoo Bar on Saturday, April 7. Brittany Ward/KZUM.
A blues hall of famer returned to Lincoln’s Zoo Bar for an evening of mesmerizing solos and harmonious songs Saturday.
The Bruce Katz Band is touring as a trio of blues musicians comprising Bruce Katz on the keys and organ, Chris Vitarello on vocals and guitar and Ray Hangen on drums.
Katz headlines the band, and is one of the most prodigious blues organ players in the world. Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, Katz has also been nominated four times for a Blues Music Award as the “Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year.”
Over the years, Katz has played and toured with some of the best in the blues, rock and jazz music scene, including Barrence Whitfield, Gregg Allman, Duke Robillard and John Hammond. His early trainings as a student at Berklee College of Music, along with his vast experience playing with top musicians in a wide range of genres, has made Katz a versatile keyboard player in many styles.
According to their website, the Bruce Katz Band began touring the U.S. and Europe roughly 20 years ago. Their style of music, led by Katz, is an Americana mixture of jazz, blues and rock, with other classical and funk nuances added from Katz’s extensive musical background. The band’s newest album, titled Out from the Center released in 2016, showcases the wide range of keyboards Katz has mastered – from the bluesy B3 organ to the classical piano. The album, composed of large sections of instrumentals, also highlights the solid and natural singing voice of Vitarello when not riffing or on a solo.
The Bruce Katz Band performs at The Zoo Bar on Saturday, April 7. Brittany Ward/KZUM.
On Saturday night, Katz and his band showed all of this and then some. It’s one thing to hear his organ solos, but to see Katz’s hands glide across the keys as he begins to stand from his chair is a performance art of its own. With his eyes closed in a deep trance for much of the show, Katz effortlessly mixed seemingly impossible keyboard solos with surprising yet effective chords. Vitarello and Hangen followed his lead for much of the show, each taking their own solos here and there. Vitarello sang beautifully for all songs with lyrics, and provided a welcome change of pace from the melodic and blistering instrumentals. But the spotlight was on Katz, and he didn’t disappoint.
The crowd, nearly to capacity following the band’s third song, quickly began to fill the tiny dance floor in front of the stage. By the time Katz and friends took an intermission, the floor was packed with an eager audience dancing their hearts out to a blues legend.
In all, the Bruce Katz Band was the quintessential Zoo Bar blues group for blues fans of any age. For master musicians like Katz, an organ, guitar and drums is all you need to put on a perfect blues show and bring the house down.
Will Roper and Brittany Ward are interns with KZUM.
