Harold Mabern, a pianist, composer, recording artist and teacher whose richly harmonic, soul-inflected style made him a sought-after bandmate for some of jazz’s premier musicians, died on Sept. 17 in New Jersey. He wa s 83.

The cause was a heart attack, his publicist, Maureen McFadden, said. She declined to specify the exact location of his death.

Starting in the 1960s, Mr. Mabern (pronounced MAY-burn) recorded more than two dozen albums as a bandleader, but he contributed to far more in bands led by luminaries like the trumpet player Lee Morgan, the guitarist Wes Montgomery and the vocalist Betty Carter.

His employers leaned on him not only for his lush and muscular playing — often rendered in two-handed block chords so that harmony, melody and rhythm came all at once — but also for his compositions. Tunes like “The Beehive” and “Richie’s Dilemma” were built from Mr. Mabern’s signature composite of harmonic sophistication, blues feeling and sharply punctuated swing rhythm.