Greg Hatza is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

organist and church musician born in 1948 in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

Music

Hatza started on piano at age five, and switched to organ at age fifteen. He played professionally from age sixteen, working for four years at

Lenny Moore Leonard Edward Moore (born November 25, 1933) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a Halfback (American football), halfback and wide receiver, flanker for the Baltimore Colts of the National Football Leag ...

's club. He recorded two albums for

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

in the late 1960s with guitarist

Eric Gale Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and jazz fusion guitarist. Biography Eric Gale was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. His grandfather was English, and Gale had relatives in Venezuela and Bar ...

and drummer

Grady Tate Grady Tate (January 14, 1932 – October 8, 2017) was an American jazz and soul-jazz drummer and baritone vocalist. In addition to his work as sideman, Tate released many albums as leader and lent his voice to songs in the animated ''Schoolhou ...

, then switched to electric keyboards in the 1970s as the organ's popularity waned. From 1974 to 1984, he studied

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

under Ustad Hamid Hossain. He later performed

ragas A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, from the perspec ...

on piano, in concert with Hamid, in the U.S., India, and Bangladesh. He returned to playing the organ in the 1990s after hearing

Joey DeFrancesco Joey DeFrancesco (April 10, 1971August 25, 2022) was an American jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and occasional singer. He released more than 30 albums under his own name, and recorded extensively as a sideman with such leading jazz perfo ...

, and recorded again as a leader with his ensemble, the Greg Hatza ORGANization. In 1996, he began to study Chinese classical music on the

erhu The (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as ...

, a two-stringed Chinese fiddle, under Shanghai instructor, Liang Shan Tang. He has served as the choir director and minister of music at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Baltimore.

Martial arts

Hatza is an instructor of Qiangshan ''

baguazhang ''Baguazhang'' () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the '' Wudang'' school, the other two being tai chi and '' xingyiquan''. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or ''neijia''). ''Baguazhang'' literally means "eigh ...

'', ''xingyiquan'', and

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

at the Chinese Boxing Academy in

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland. The population was 44,701 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 US Census. The community is a streetcar suburb of Baltimore along the cit ...

. He has over forty years of martial arts experience, including

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

Shaolin kung fu Shaolin kung fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is the largest and most famous style of Chinese martial arts, kung fu. It combines Chan Buddhism, Chan philosophy and martial arts. It was developed in the Shaolin Temple in ...

, Snow Tiger,

Yang-style tai chi Yang-style tai chi ( zh, s=楊氏太极拳, p=Yángshì tàijíquán) is one of the five primary families of tai chi. Including its variations, it is the most popular and widely practised style of tai chi in the world today. It is second in term ...

, ''

xingyiquan 形意拳, Xingyiquan , or Xingyi, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and expl ...

'', and ''

'' (''bagua''). He began his study of ''bagua'' in 1985 under Sifu Ken Fish. In 1990, he met Sifu Pak Bok Nam and has continued his studies in ''bagua'' under his tutelage. In 1999, he became a lineage disciple and licensed instructor of the ''Qiangshan bagua'' system. He also teaches

. He has attended seminars with Yang Zhenduo to continue his refinement of the Yang-style long form and ''

taijijian ''Taijijian'' ( zh, t=太極劍, s=太极剑, p=tàijíjiàn, l= ''taiji'' sword) is a straight two-edged sword used in the training of the Chinese martial art tai chi. The straight sword, sometimes with a tassel and sometimes not, is used for u ...

''.

Discography

Greg Hatza ORGANization Recordings * ''The Wizardry of Greg Hatza'' (

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, 1967) * ''Organized Jazz'' (Coral, 1968) with

* ''The Greg Hatza ORGANization'' ( Palmetto, 1993) * ''In My Pocket'' (Palmetto, 1996) * ''Snake Eyes'' (Palmetto, 1998) * ''To A New Place'' (I-Ching, 2001) * ''Diggin' Up My Roots'' (Flip, 2016) Moon August Recordings * ''Just Another Gig'' (Bushido, 1979) * ''Feelin' Free'' (Bushido, 1983) * ''Potion'' (Syntax, 1989) * ''Hard Times'' (Aim, 1992) * ''Best of Moon August (Special Edition)'' (Ashley, 1999)

References

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

, Greg Hatzaat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatza, Greg American jazz organists American male organists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Palmetto Records artists Living people 21st-century American organists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American keyboardists