had already put together impressive résumés before joining together to form the post-bop duo
in 1990. A native of Iowa,
soon after moving to New York in 1972. Since then, he's gone on to work with a diverse range of jazz and Latin musicians including
.
A member of the
Red Rodney/
Ira Sullivan Quintet in the late '70s and early '80s,
Dial appeared on the group's Grammy-nominated albums
Live at the Village Vanguard in 1980 and
Ira Sullivan Does It All in 1981. In addition to brief stints as pianist for
James Moody and
Gerry Mulligan, he played on three albums and a video by folk-pop trio the
Roches. A longtime student of
Duke Ellington's piano playing, he was chosen by
Ellington's widow, Ruth, to perform and record
Ellington's complete catalog for the
Ellington family library. Recording a solo album,
Never Is Now, in 1987,
Dial produced, composed, and played piano for Australian duo
James Morrison and
Ken Done's album,
Postcards from Down Under, two years later.
Playing together since 1990,
Dial and
Oatts have released three memorable albums. Accompanied by bassist
Jay Anderson, drummer
Joey Baron, and a 30-piece string section on their debut self-titled album, they were backed by a ten-piece brass ensemble on their second outing,
Brassworks. They returned to the jazz quartet format for
Play Cole Porter, featuring the rhythm section of
Anderson on bass and
Jeff Hirschfield on drums.
Both
Dial and
Oatts remain active as teachers.
Oatts has been teaching at the Manhattan School of Music since 1989, while
Dial has been teaching piano, theory, and improvisation at both the New School of Social Research and Manhattan School of Music since 1990.
Dial and
Oatts collaborated to teach master classes at the Dutch Conservatory in Amsterdam, Holland, in 2002.
–
Craig Harris, Rovi