Jazz Articles about Hendrik Meurkens

About Hendrik Meurkens

Radio & Podcasts

Four new releases from Hendrik Meurkens, Christian McBride, Ekep Nkwelle and Donald Vega

by George Graham
October 21, 2026

George Graham features new releases from harmonica man Hendrik Meurkens with Steve Sandberg, Christian McBride, an impressive debut album by vocalist Ekep Nkwelle and veteran pianist/composer Donald Vega. Playlist Hendrik Meurkens & Steve Sandberg “Bennie" from Just Born (self-released) 05:11 Hendrik Meurkens & Steve Sandberg “Samba Tonto" from Just Born (self-released) 04:40 Christian McBride & Ursa Major “Two Check" from Points of Light (Mack Avenue) 05:13 Christian McBride & Ursa Major “Cows" from Points of Light (Mack Avenue) ...

Album Review

Hendrik Meurkens: Samba Tonto

Read "Samba Tonto" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 16, 2026

Among the myriad jazz musicians practicing their art in countries around the world, there are few to whom the term “virtuoso" may readily be applied. Australia's James Morrison is one; Germany's Hendrik Meurkens is another. Widely known and admired as a master of the harmonica, Meurkens is equally adept on vibraphone and as a composer and arranger whose voice is strong and articulate. Meurkens displays all those remarkable traits on Samba Tonto, wherein he removes himself from the ...

Album Review

Judy Whitmore: Let's Fall in Love

Read "Let's Fall in Love" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 6, 2025

Polymath Judy Whitmore has taken time away from her busy and productive career(s) to record her fifth album, Let's Fall in Love, and like the first four, it is a smooth and delightful tour of memorable themes from the Great American Songbook, sung with radiance and heart by one of the leading exponents of popular song on today's scene. Whitmore does not sing jazz (no scatting or improvising here); she leaves that in the capable hands of ...

Album Review

Hendrik Meurkens: The Jazz Meurkengers

Read "The Jazz Meurkengers" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
June 6, 2024

When one thinks of the jazz harmonica, two names immediately come to mind, the late great Toots Thielemans and the incomparable Hendrik Meurkens whose new project The Jazz Meurkengers fully captures Meurkens' desire to produce a new and exciting swinging jazz album. While Meurkens learned to play the vibraphone first at the age of sixteen growing up in Germany and still does quite well, it is the harmonica that has become his preferred instrument of choice and the one he ...

Album Review

Hendrik Meurkens: The Jazz Meurkengers

Read "The Jazz Meurkengers" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
May 16, 2024

Harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens brought together an outstanding group of musicians in The Jazz Meurkengers, which is a swinging tribute to the allure of hard-bop jazz. Supported by the resourceful and highly adaptable rhythm section of pianist Steve Ash, bassist Chris Berger and drummer Andy Watson, the band was augmented by the impeccable guitarist Ed Cherry on four tracks and bebop tenor saxophonist Nick Hampton on four different tracks giving the ensemble the energy, creativity, and reverence of the jazz ...

Album Review

Judy Whitmore: Come Fly with Me

Read "Come Fly with Me" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 6, 2024

When the multi-talented Judy Whitmore sings “Come Fly with Me," it is an invitation that is almost impossible to resist, especially as the lovely and charming vocalist is also a pilot who is licensed to fly anything from jets to seaplanes to hot air balloons. On her latest album, backed by a big band and twenty-six member string section with arrangements by Hollywood top gun Chris Walden, Whitmore beckons listeners to fly with her to romantic places around the world ...

Album Review

Russ Spiegel: Caribbean Blue

Read "Caribbean Blue" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 19, 2023

Pleasant music with ample color and variety--that's an apt description of Caribbean Blue, the latest albulm from California-bred, Florida-based guitarist Russ Spiegel, who has surrounded himself with world-class musicians and given them rein to canvass ten of his generally engaging compositions and bring them admirably to life. While everything on offer is respectable, it is the album's midsection--tracks 3-8--that rise above the others and lend the session much of its vitality and charm. After harmonica virtuoso Hendrik ...