Greg Hatza is an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 organist born in 1948 in Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...

.

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

Lenny Moore

Leonard Edward Moore is a former American football halfback who played for Penn State in college and the Baltimore Colts. He came to the Colts in 1956, and had a productive first pro season and was named the NFL Rookie of The Year...

's club. He recorded two full-length albums for Coral Records

Coral Records

Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, as well as rock and roller Buddy Holly....

 in the late 1960s with guitarist Eric Gale

Eric Gale

Eric J. Gale was a leading American jazz and session guitarist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gale began playing guitar at the age of 12. Although he majored in chemistry at Niagara University, Gale was determined to pursue a musical career, and began contributing to accompaniments for such stars as...

 and drummer Grady Tate

Grady Tate

Grady Tate, , is a hard bop and soul-jazz drummer and singer.He has played with Lional Hampton, Jimmy Smith, Grant Green, Lena Horne, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Blossom Dearie, Chris Connor, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Cal Tjader, Peggy Lee, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Count...

, then switched to electric keyboards in the 1970s as the organ's popularity waned. He returned to playing the organ in the 1990s after hearing Joey DeFrancesco

Joey DeFrancesco

Joey DeFrancesco is an American jazz organist, trumpeter, and vocalist. Down Beat's Critics and Readers Poll selected him as the top jazz organist every year since 2003.DeFrancesco was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania...

 play, and recorded again as a leader with his ensemble The Greg Hatza ORGANization.

Discography

• The Wizardry of Greg Hatza (Coral Records
  Coral Records
  Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, as well as rock and roller Buddy Holly....
  
  , 1967)
• Organized Jazz (Coral, 1968)
• The Greg Hatza ORGANization (Palmetto Records
  Palmetto Records
  Palmetto Records is an independent American jazz record label founded in 1990 by Matt Balitsaris. -Artists:*Ben Allison*Lili Anel*Matt Wilson*Fred Hersch*Ted Nash*Bill Mays*Larry Goldings*David Berkman*Dr...
  
  , 1993)
• In My Pocket (Palmetto, 1996)
• Snake Eyes (Palmetto, 1997)
• To a New Place (I-Ching, 2001)