- Ogermann heads to the United States to arrange songs by famous artists including George Benson, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bill Evans, Diana Krall, Stan Getz and Wes Montgomery.
- His works for violin and piano were recorded on a 2007 disc by the Chinese violinist Yue Deng and French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
- Ogerman's major influences as a composer were Max Reger and Alexander Scriabin.
- Among Ogerman's most remarkable albums are: Gate Of Dreams (WB, 1977), from the music of the ballet Some Times; Cityscape with Michael Brecker (Warner/Pioneer, 1982); and Claus Ogerman Featuring Michael Brecker (GRP, 1991), all of which include original compositions centered on the juxtaposition of jazz instruments and rhythm sections with classical music orchestra.
- Ogerman arranged and conducted Diana Krall's 2001 album The Look of Love, and conducted parts of her Live in Paris performance recorded on DVD. He also served as arranger and conductor for Krall's 2009 album Quiet Nights.
- From the 1970s, Ogerman devoted himself almost exclusively to composing. His commissions included a ballet score for the American Ballet Theatre, Some Times; a work for Bill Evans for jazz piano and orchestra, Symbiosis; a work for Michael Brecker for saxophone and orchestra, Cityscape; a song cycle, Tagore-Lieder, after poems by Rabindranath Tagore, recorded by Judith Blegen and Brigitte Fassbaender; a concerto for violin and orchestra, Lirico, and a Sarabande-Fantasie for violin and orchestra, recorded by Aaron Rosand; 10 Songs for Chorus A-Capella After Poems by Georg Heym, recorded by the Cologne Radio Chorus; and a work for violin and orchestra, Preludio and Chant, recorded by Gidon Kremer.
- Ogerman began his career with the piano.
- In 1959, Ogerman moved to the United States and joined the producer Creed Taylor at Verve Records, working on recordings with many artists, including Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery, Kai Winding, and Cal Tjader. Verve was sold to MGM in 1963. Ogerman, by his own admission in Gene Lees' Jazzletter publication, arranged some 60-70 albums for Verve under Creed Taylor's direction from 1963 to 1967.[.
- He steadfastly maintained that he was not primarily concerned with "modernism" per se, stating that his goal was to evoke an emotional response in the listener.
- Ogerman won the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for George Benson's "Soulful Strut" and the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for "Quiet Nights".
- He also arranged in the 60's many pop hits, including Solomon Burke's "Cry To Me", and Lesley Gore's "It's My Party", "Judy's Turn to Cry", "She's a Fool", and "Maybe I Know".
- He was one of the most prolific 20th century arrangers and has worked in the top 40, rock, pop, jazz, R&B, soul, easy listening, Broadway and classical music fields.
- He arranged and conducted the orchestra on George Benson's 1976 album, Breezin', as well as on two other Benson albums.
- The exact number of recording artists for whom Ogerman has either arranged or conducted during his career has never been determined.
- In 1966, Ogerman arranged and conducted Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra (Verve Records).
- Claus (then Klaus) also worked as a part-time vocalist and recorded several 45 rpm singles under the pen name of "Tom Collins", duetting with Hannelore Cremer; he also recorded a solo vocal with the Delle Haensch Jump Combo.
- He was a German arranger, conductor, and composer best known for his work with Billie Holiday, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra and Michael Brecker.
- In July 2008, Ogerman released an album of compositions with jazz pianist Danilo Perez, Across the Crystal Sea.
- In the 1950s, Ogerman worked in Germany as an arranger-pianist with Kurt Edelhagen, saxophonist and bandleader Max Greger, and Delle Haensch.
- In 1967, he joined Creed Taylor on the A&M/CTi label.
- Ogerman charted under his own name in 1965. The RCA single "Watusi Trumpets" reached #130 in the Music Vendor charts.
- His first recording with an American jazz musician was a Chet Baker jam session in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1955.
- Ogerman's warm, delicate string orchestrations still sound like sheer, luxurious curtains blowing in a gentle breeze, and there remains a dramatic, autumnal quality about his orchestrations that slowly envelope singers and instrumentalists like a silver mist. His big band, pop-rock and soul charts also had an unmistakable snap.
- Ogerman arranged and conducted Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967), the first of two recordings that Frank Sinatra made with Antonio Carlos Jobim.
- Ogerman also arranged and conducted Jobim's The Composer of Desafinado, Plays (1963), A Certain Mr. Jobim (1967), Wave (1967), Jobim (1972), Urubu (1976), and Terra Brasilis (1980), on which he also played the piano. Ogerman also produced the Jobim and Urubu albums.
- Over the course of five decades, starting in the 1960s, Ogerman recorded several hundred albums in the U.S. and Germany, where he spent half the year.
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