The Greg Hatza ORGANization Diggin' Up My Roots

The Greg Hatza ORGANization
Diggin' Up My Roots
Flip Records

Hammond B-3 master Greg Hatza was playing boogie woogie on the piano at the age of 5 growing up in Reading, Pennsylvania. Growing up on classic R&B, he becoming obsessed with the Hammond B-3 after hearing Jimmy McGriff and Jimmy McGriff. Baltimore Colt legend Lenny Moore caught Hatza playing at a hotel in Reading, and asked him to perform at a club that he was opening in Baltimore. Moore would also became his manager and Hatza moved to Charm City, and recorded a couple albums for Coral Records at this time. Subsequently he led pretty diverse career, including playing other electric keyboards and later studying tabla and sitar. He met Joey Defrancesco in 1994 who advised him the B-3 was undergoing a popular renaissance and returned to playing that and forming the Greg Hatza ORGANization, who currently also consist of Robert Shaid on drums, Brian Kooken on guitar and Peter Fraise on saxophone.

The title of this disc refers to the R&B and blues songs that Hatza heard growing up and there are eight interpretations of "High Heel Sneakers," "I Got a Woman," "Back at the Chicken Shack," "Night Train," "Please Send Me Someone To Love,""Hand Jive,""Something You Got," and "Stagger Lee." There are also three originals, including a couple of vocals. The mood is set on the opening, bouncy blues, "Baltimore Strut," that allows Fraise to get down as Hatza lays down a greasy foundation before Kooken solos while Shaid and the leader maintain the groove. An original blues "Big Big Back," opens with some down-in-the alley organ before Hatza takes a vocal about his baby having a big behind. Hatza is ok as a singer, but he sounds off-mike for most of it before the closing vocal where the rest join him. It is followed by Tommy Tucker's "High Heel Sneakers," with a funky riff providing a fresh take on the blues classic.

The last original, "Headin On Down South," is another slow blues with some bluesy guitar from Kooken and a decent vocal. The renditions of "I Got a Woman," "Back to the Chicken Shack" and "Night Train" are straight-ahead organ group performances with everything played at a relaxed tempo. "Night Train," is partly adapted from the James Brown recording with Fraise's sax solo evoking Jimmy Forrest. The longest performance is the moody take on "Please Send Me Someone To Love," with some fine bluesy solos from Hatza, Fraise and Kooken. There is also a peppy take of the John Otis hit, "Hand Jive."

Digging up his musical roots, Greg Hatza has produced a solid, blues-drenched Hammond B-3 led jazz recording that will delight organ and soul jazz fans.

A publicist provided download files for the review. This review appeared in the July-August 2017 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 373). Here is The Greg Hatza ORGANization in 2011 performing Jimmy Smith's "Back at the Chicken Shack" from the now-defunct New Haven Lounge.

Cory Henry The Revival

Cory Henry
The Revival
GroundUP Music

A member of the celebrated Snarky Puppy, Cory Henry has been filmed and recorded at Brooklyn's Greater Temple of Praise on a mostly solo performance on the Hammond B-3, for a new album "The Revival." Henry performs mostly solo on a program of old gospel classics, rhythm and blues, jazz and soul. he is joined on the recording by drummer James Williams and his godfather, Bishop Jeffrey White, who sings on one song.

The gospel element is predominant among the songs selected for this performance opening with A simple rendition of "Lord's Prayer" where he is pulling out all the stops (pun intended) as this stately performance builds in intensity. In contrast to the sober opener, "He Has Made Me Glad (I Will Enter His Gates)," is a more spirited and ebullient performance, but both pieces illustrate his masterful use of dynamics and tone. After a sober "Precious Lord," with Williams adding some accents, Bishop Jeffrey White sings powerfully on another old gospel classic, "Old Rugged Cross." After a playful "NaaNaaNaa," with Williams on tambourine and the audience having fun singing the title track, there is a lively devotional number, "That is Why I’m Happy," followed by the fun (and audience clapping) of "If You’re Happy (and you know it)." Coltrane's "Giant Steps" opens in somewhat restrained manner but the heat builds with Henry's marvelous improvisation. After a musical deconstruction and reconstruction of "Yesterday," the performance closes with the exultation of "I Want to Be Ready."

"The Revival" is a wonderful display of Cory Henry's masterful B-3 playing, sometimes mesmerizing but always full of fervor and humor.
I received as a download from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the July-August 2016 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 367).  Here Cory Henry is performing "NaaNaaNaa."

 

Pat Bianchi Seeks a Higher Standrad

 

One of today's top practitioners of the Hammond B-3 organ, Pat Bianchi has a new release, "A Higher Standard" (21H Records). The release has Bianchi with his current trio of Byron Landham (drums) and Craig Ebner (guitar). This writer saw and was impressed by Bianchi as part of a group backing tenor saxophonist Paul Carr at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (and he recorded with Carr) and he is known for working with Lou Donaldson. This recording features him and his working band.

There is a nice of mix of material from the opening "With Out a Song" and Horace Silver's "Blue Silver" to Oscar Pettiford's "Bohemia After Dark," John Coltrane's "Satellite," and Stevie Wonder's "From the The Bottom Of My Heart," along with a couple of Bianchi originals. Bianchi certainly is an impressive playing and his greasy, sometimes orchestral, playing contrasts with the lean and clean chords and single note lines of Ebner, while Landham (celebrated on Bianchi's "The Will of Landham") pushes the performance with considerable swing. "Blue Silver" is certainly a good selection to observe the trio's considerable strengths and empathic ensemble playing.

Ebner opens "So Many Stars" with some Spanish laced guitar before Bianchi lays down some low-key organ on a performance that showcases Ebner acoustic playing. The groove on the greasy "The Will of Landham" brings a bit more heat to the surface while "Bohemia After Dark" has some of Bianchi's most explosive playing. Landham kicks off Bianchi's "Blues Minus One," a marvelous blues performance, before the disc closes on a nice adaptation of the Stevie Wonder number.

Bianchi is a terrific player who leads a strong band and the mix of material exhibits the trio's considerable talents. As a result, "A Higher Standard" is a wonderful organ trio recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist.  This review appeared in slightly different form in the July-August 2015 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 361). Here a slightly different incarnation of Pat Bianchi's trio performs Monk's "Trinkle, Tinkle."

Joey DeFrancesco at the 2013 Mid Atlantic Jazz Fest Day 3-2170738

20130217 Mid Atlantic Jazz Fest Day 3-2170738, a photo by NoVARon on Flickr.

Capping a Festival that spotlighted the Hammond B-3, this year's Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival concluded with a burning performance from Joey DeFrancesco with his trio that included guitarist Paul Bollenback. In addition to his deep funky organ, Joey DeFrancesco also treated us to a bit of trumpet. It was hard bop, deep fried blues and some ballads with deep soul tinges,

Radam Schwartz Blues-Infused Organ Jazz

Organist Radam Schwartz certainly has the blues in mind on his new Savant recording Blues Citizens. The blues has always been fertile ground for Hammond B-3 combos and that is true on this disc produced by drummer Cecil Brooks III who anchors Schwartz along with the alto sax of Bruce Williams, the tenor of Bill Saxton and the guitar of Eric Johnson.

Not that the music is mostly built on twelve-bar numbers, but it is blues-related. Schwartz's original that opens it is a burner Dem Philadelphia Organ Blues, which was apparently inspired by Don Patterson who called the City of Brotherly Love home for several years. Driftin’ is a strutting performance of Herbie Hancock composition on which guitarist Johnson shines. Schwartz’s bluesy dirge Grief But Be Brief, was inspired by listening to Ossie Davis eulogize Betty Shabezz but became even more relevant when his son died in a motorcycle accident. It is a moving duet between Saxton and Schwartz, that is followed by the full band on the title, with its march like cadence.

Brooks helps drive things along where keeping the march like tempo on Blues Citizens, or on the walking groove over the very familiar Misty, with more fine playing from all involved. Kice is added to the shuffle blues groove of Pay Up, with his rap about not letting money taking over our lives with Schwartz laying down the bass vamp groove and the saxophones adding their interludes around the rap and Johnson playing some nice bluesy lines.
I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance, shows just how good a ballad player Saxton is, while the horns sit out the marvelous interpretation of Jimmy Hughes deep southern soul classic Steal Away. Producer Brooks contributed the hot Hanging With Smooth, which the two horns trading eights and then fours before solos from organ and drums.

The closing Eighth Wonder, is Schwartz’s ripping salute to the legendary Jimmy Smith with the leader being pulling out the stops. Blue Citizens is simply stated a terrific album that should appeal to fans of hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz, not simply fans of the Hammond B-3.

This review originally appeared in the July 2009 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 318) and that publication provided me with the review copy.