Jazz Articles about Hendrik Meurkens

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Hendrik Meurkens: Harmonica Virtuoso

by Victor Verney
April 6, 2011

Although at first Hendrik Meurkens' primary instrument was the vibraphone, he has garnered an international reputation as a jazz harmonica player since picking up that difficult-to-master instrument. Born in Germany, Meurkens came to the U.S. to study at Boston's Berklee School of Music. After returning to Europe for a time, he decided to go live in Brazil to immerse himself in that county's brand of jazz, which he had heard and grown to love. Living in Rio de Janeiro (and ...

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Hendrik Meurkens: Samba To Go!

by Edward Blanco
January 9, 2009

A timely follow up to the his critically acclaimed Sambatropolis (ZOHO, 2008) released early last year, chromatic harmonica player and vibraphonist Hendrik Meurkens, presents us with another brilliant embrace of the Brazilian music that this Dutch-born New York raised musician, has so enthusiastically adopted as his own. Samba to Go! is a natural continuation of Meurkens' love for the choro and samba rhythms that he explored on the previous album. While still borrowing some music from such legends as Antonio ...

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Hendrik Meurkens: Sambatropolis

by Jerry D'Souza
January 8, 2008

Playing the vibes and the harmonica is a rather unusual combination. Hendrik Meurkens was drawn to these instruments after he heard Lionel Hampton play the vibraphone on Benny Goodman's Live at Carnegie Hall (Columbia, 1938) and, a few years later, the harmonica of Toots Thielemans. Even as he emerged as an adept player of these instruments, Meurkens was dipping into jazz, and particularly bebop. But he was also pursuing another tangent in Brazilian music. Meurkens has long been ...

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Hendrik Meurkens: New York Jazz Samba Quintet

by Jerry D'Souza
January 26, 2007

Hendrik Meurkens was smitten enough by Brazilian music to move to Rio from Germany in the early eighties. He calls this a life-changing musical experience which led him to study the music in depth. A residency at the Bar 21 in Rio helped put theory into practice. He moved to New York from his native Germany, from which he became a rather prolific recording artist. Brazilian music was the center of this universe.

Out of the large treasure trove of ...

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Hendrik Meurkens: New York Samba Jazz Quintet

by Jim Santella
January 7, 2007

The soulful feeling that Hendrik Meurkens puts into his jazz harmonica always brings warmth and sunshine into the room. Here, he's at home with a quintet at Cecil's Jazz Club in West Orange, New Jersey, just having a good time and keeping the fires burning all night long. His embers burn from several directions: from Brazilian traditional and New York contemporary to straight-ahead jazz.

Meurkens plays both harmonica and vibraphone for this session. The samba beat that remains ...

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Hendrik Meurkens: New York Samba Jazz Quintet

by J Hunter
January 2, 2007

What would you call an NBA-sized German guy who plays harmonica and vibes, and is an unqualified expert in the history, composition, and performance of samba, choro, and bossa nova? Well, “Mister Meurkens seems a little too New York Times, though Hendrik Meurkens certainly deserves that level of respect. More of said respect should follow on the heels of New York Samba Jazz Quintet.

Continuing the sports metaphor, this was a home game for Meurkens: the disc chronicles ...

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Hendrik Meurkens: Amazon River

by Jim Santella
October 26, 2005

With a session of originals and established Brazilian songs, Hendrik Meurkens pays homage to the music that moves him. His guests play a large part in helping the harmonica virtuoso create a recommended album that accurately describes those feelings. He soars high and low, swooping effortlessly around melodic fragments that belie the rustic impression of a land where no one has to hurry to get things done. Simple, yet filled with exotic undercurrents, the music fills a need that we ...