Jonathan Katz
Jazz, Pop & Standards
Long Island, New York native Jonathan Katz took up piano at six and French horn at nine. He discovered jazz at 11 and played with Count Basie Orchestra great Frank Foster and other jazz giants in his teens. After studying music at Yale University and the Eastman School of Music, and Japanese at Sophia University, he moved to Tokyo in 1991, where he has established himself as a highly regarded pianist, bandleader and composer/arranger. Jonathan has performed with famed jazz artists Ray Brown, Kenny Burrell, Lew Tabackin and Eddie Henderson, with the NHK Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic and other leading Japanese orchestras, and has performed and recorded with enka superstar Itsuki Hiroshi.
In 2008, Jonathan assembled Tokyo Big Band, a 19-piece ensemble of top Tokyo-based musicians. TBB’s library includes over 80 original compositions and innovative arrangements of pop and jazz standards and Japanese traditional songs. Since 2019, he has been pianist in the Disney World Beat big band directed by Brad Kelley, and has led 5- and 8-piece bands as pianist/arranger for bossa nova singer Lisa Ono. He is also an avid music educator who teaches jazz piano, composition, and arranging, and instructs at jazz workshops in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the U.S. Since 2020, he has been holding seasonal jazz lecture-concerts at Mitsukoshi Culture Salon in the Mitsukoshi Main Store in Nihombashi.
And remember, it's free. No cover charge. No music charge. You just can't beat SNL for an
exciting, entertaining night out in Tokyo.
The Saturday Night Live Committee
Coming Up!
June 15 NO SNL
June 22 Kayo Hiraki (Jazz)
June 29 NO SNL
July 6 Felix Sonnyboy (Guitar)
