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Greg Hatza

A native of Reading, Pennsylvania, Greg Hatza’s musical instincts came to him as early and as naturally as the ability to walk, and he was picking out blues and boogie woogie tunes on the piano around age four before starting formal lessons shortly thereafter.  The Hammond B-3 became his life’s obsession as a teenager, when a friend turned him on to records by Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Ray Charles, and Johnny Hammond Smith.  His first professional gig on the instrument came when he was 16, with the Frankie Scott Trio, where he played around small towns in central Pennsylvania.

Because there were no jazz organ instructors at the time, Greg was largely self-taught, picking up most of his insider knowledge from the organ players at jam sessions at a local club called the Grand Hotel.  It was the Grand that Baltimore Colts football great and jazz fan Lenny Moore asked the teenager to perform at a club he was opening in Baltimore.  Moore became Greg’s manager and Baltimore became Greg’s home.  The organist played at the club for four years and was something of a young jazz lion himself, recording two albums for MCA subsidiary label Coral Records, The Wizardry of Greg Hatza and Organized Jazz.

In the late sixties, Baltimore was still an organ town and had its share of great players.  It was here that Greg really got a chance to hone his jazz organ skills by playing with the best musicians in town.  Lenny’s club was a great stopping point for national jazz artists who came to Baltimore to perform.  It was here that Greg met his mentor Jimmy Smith and got to play with him. Smith later advised Greg on his soon to be recorded albums.  He also met and got to play in jam sessions with such personalities as Kenny Burrell, Groove Holmes, Damita Joe, Philly Joe Jones, Roland Kirk, Les McCann, James Moody, and Sonny Stitt.

With the trend towards more advanced electronic keyboard and rhythms, Greg adapted to the trend, switching from the Hammond B-3 to the electric keyboard and piano. He played in different be-bop groups and as a member of his contemporary fusion band Moon August, selected as the number one jazz group from over fifty contestants at the First Annual Jazz Quest held at the 1983 Eubie Blake Festival. Moon August was named as the number one jazz band in the Maryland/Washington area by Maryland Musician Magazine from 1985 to 1987.  In 1999, Moon August was awarded the title “Cultural Ambassadors” for the city of Baltimore under then Mayor Kurt Schmoke. The group traveled to Kawasaki, Japan for the 20th anniversary celebration of the Kawasaki/Baltimore Sister City Exchange.

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Album Review

Melodic Intersect: Looking Forward

Read "Looking Forward" reviewed by Geannine Reid


Melodic Intersect has released their 6th studio album, Looking Forward. The ensemble congregates musicians from different backgrounds to create a sound that is unique, with a strong world flavor. Lead by Enayet Hossain, a tabla player that has had years of experience in the realm of Indian classical music and started the Melodic Intersect group to be able to create music that is unique and highly improvisational. The other players in the ensemble are: Hidayat Khan who plays the sitar ...

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Album Review

The Greg Hatza ORGANization: Snake Eyes

Read "Snake Eyes" reviewed by Douglas Payne


Here's a nice soul-jazz date from Baltimore-based organist Greg Hatza that will happily take many back to the smoke filled clubs when organ combos ruled the scene. Some may remember the two nifty trio dates Hatza recorded for Coral in 1967 with guitarist Eric Gale and Grady Tate. If DJs ever happen upon these, they're sure to become acid-jazz classics. Hatza seems to have vanished from the scene as electronic keyboards and fusion took over jazz and resurfaced only recently, ...

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