Critics and Musicians Are Talking about Hendrik Meurkens

“Meurkens comes out of Toots Thielemans but has his own things to say in an even more boppish mode.”
Ira Gitler, Jazz Times

“…Meurkens performed a rare Washington engagement at Twins Jazz over the weekend and readily demonstrated his melodic flair and harmonic assurance -- virtues that enhanced the ballads and enlivened the swing tunes. Like Thielemans, who frequently doubles on guitar, Meurkens is a switch-hitter. He spent the opening set on Friday night alternately playing the chromatic harmonica and the vibraphone. His phrasing on harmonica, though sometimes punctuated by fanciful multi-octave runs, was invariably clean, fluid and expressive. Particularly enjoyable were the ballad interpretations, which ranged from the soulful ("I Can't Get Started") to the insouciant ("Like Someone in Love"). Both performances were distinguished by unruffled technique and winning lyricism."
Mike Joyce, Washington Post - Read Entire Review

“Surrounded by an outstanding rhythm section, the leader seems to feed of their enthusiasm. “Scrapple from the Apple” brings four particularly impressive sets of chops to the platform. Performed at a blazing tempo, the Charlie Park nod summarizes the recommended album thoughtfully and reminds us that virtuoso jazz artists don’t just appear out of nowhere. These guy have paid their dues, and Meurkens has earned the right to carry the jazz harmonica torch.” Jim Santella – All About Jazz, March, 2001

“He plays his main instrument, the chromatic harmonica, and shows the supple melodious grace and underlying improvisational moxie that makes him one of the precious few musicians to extend the Toots Thielemans tradition of chromatic harp – virtuosity in check with taste.” – Josef Woodard – JazzTimes, May, 2000

“…one of the world’s leading exponents of the jazz harmonica…”
Marcela Breton, JazzTimes

“…he has a natural inclination for seeking out beauty, for breathing harmony of color into themes and extemporizations.”
Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat

“…his albums for Concord have more then established him as a major innovator…”
Mark Holston, Jazziz

“Meurkens has proved to be a unique player with his own sound and approach.”
Winslow T. Yerxa, Harmonica Magazine

“Hendrik Meurkens has secured a firm hold on second place behind Toots in the jazz world. He tackles the challenging material with apparent ease, coming upw ith fresh and very fluent statements.”
Scott Yanow, Cadence

“If you haven’t hear this eloquent jazz player, you’re missing out on one amazing aural experience.”
Brian Humek, JAM Magazine

“He has a distinctively warm tone and his grasp of the basic bebop vernacular is thorough.”
Barry McRae, Jazz Journal International

“If Jazz has become a world music (and it has), then Meurkens is certainly a symbol of the music’s diverse cultural qualities…”
Nicholas Catalano, Chelsea Clinton News

“The ease with which Meurkens masters a chromatic harmonica is evident in the fluidity of his lines and phrasing.”
Nance Ann Lee – Jazz &Blues Report

“With flawless intonation and time, and a deep bag of solo ideas, Meurkens could be favorably compared to the great Toots Thielemans and the best who’ve ever elevated the status of the ‘Mississippi saxophone.”
Dan Emerson – Pulse Magazine, Feburary, 2001

“Back in Brazil, I had the chance to work with Mauricio Einhorn and Rildo Hora (two top Brazilian harmonica players) and Toots Thielemans, and all I can say is Hendrik combines that Brazilian samba swing with Toot’s virtuosity. He’s an amazing musician.”
Nilson Matta

"Hendrik's understanding of the Brazilian music vocabulary is absolute...His music feels like the work of a native Brazilian composer. Hendrik Meurkens is one of those rare musicians who makes you listen to his instrument - the harmonica - as a virtuoso instrument." Claudio Roditi

“Working on Amazon River let me even closer to the talents of Hendrik Meurkens. To be proficient on the harmonica is a milestone in itself. Blowing out produces one note, breathing in produces another. To play legato, to have fluidity and the proper dynamics in this difficult instrument means endless hours of dedication. Hendrik has an awesome technique, a great sense of improvisation and a very personal way of navigating complex harmonies. Adding to that is his wonderful artistry on the vibraphone, another instrument that Hendrik commands with great grace and expression. Yet another extra element of his talents is the way he plays Brazilian music. I strongly suspect that his soul was born somewhere among the trees and the rivers of Brazil, so native are his performances. I hope “Amazon River” will help disseminate the wonderful music that comes straight out of Hendrik’s heart. It will move you.”
Oscar Castro-Neves

Reviews for Sambatropolis

The Run Off Groove Blogspot:

"Hendrik Meurkens first heard jazz music as a teenager growing up in Hamburg, Germany, or so his bio says. From that moment on he was hooked, and through a lot of listening he discovered Toots Thielemans and seeked the harmonica as his own. As with many jazz explorers, he found himself discovering, enjoying, and embracing the music of Brazil. That resulted in an album on the Zoho label, New York Samba Jazz Quintet, which received a lot of positive reviews.

Meurkens continues his love of jazz and Brazilian sounds with his new album, Sambatropolis, also on Zoho. Meurkens' main instrument here is the harmonica, but he also plays the vibes on a few of them too. When it comes to the harmonica in jazz, the instrument has generally been reserved for the chosen few, and with this album he may become a part of that elite club, with the kind of playing that shows professionalism without going overboard. The arrangements of standards such as "Fotografia" and "Você Vai Ver" (both Antonio Carlos Jobim originals) honor the originals and the country in which they originate, while the band (which includes Adriano Santos and Duduka Da Fonseca on drums, Rodrigo Ursaia on tenor sax, and Helio Alves on piano) execute these songs as if their lives depended on it. Meurkens' appreciation is obvious and the music sounds as native to him as anything else, and the musicians sense that by giving it their all. He offers a number of original pieces too, including "Ocean Lights", "Hot And Stuffy" (the music on the album is hot indeed, and anything but stuffy), "Choro Da Neve" and the title track, which could easily be adapted by others and become standards in their own right. Whether it's romantic ballads or eager dance numbers, there's nothing on Sambatropolis that is bad. Not one song. Played with precision, the recording, mixing, and mastering is top notch, fans who love Latin jazz will find every reason to buy this and pass it along to friends. If Sambatropolis was a real city, we should all pack up and live there.

E-Jazz News:

"This type of CD Review tends to review itself due to the enormous resident talent contained therein. I refer to the gifted jazz chromatic harmonica artist Hendrick Meurkens. Hendrick explores the latino vibe with this CD project with an artist's palette, & his musical panache overflows with every emotion from mournful to flexible & spontaneous. A master of the 'horn line,' Meurkens reveals a latent talent to moderize jazz with his strong introspective & meditative playing style.

It's interesting too that one is left to wonder about his influences yet, one doesn't care because Hendrick is deft at exploring new boundaries. This is a jazz harmonica artist that can interpret melody & harmony with an expansive, far reaching tone and artistry."

Blog Critics:

"About this time last year, I reviewed New York Samba Jazz Quintet, a new release on the Zoho label that starred Hendrik Meurkens on vibes and harmonica. In that review I looked into the musical history of the talented artist, exploring not only his background as an instrumentalist but also how his passion for Brazilian jazz led to that album. Meurkens is now following up on that effort with his newest, Sambatropolis, due out the first week of January, and it looks like another winner. For his 17th album as a leader, the towering Meurkens is again joined by Brazilian pianist Helio Alves, Jed Levy on flute and sax, and drummer Adriano Santos, along with select appearances by Rodrigo Ursaia on sax and Gustavo Amarante on bass. This time around the focus is nominally on the samba (hence the name), but the album is a nice mix of several styles, including Meurkens' favorite Brazilian genre, the closely related Choro (Chorinhos). An outstanding example is "Choro Da Neve," which showcases Meurkens' main vision - a fusion of the form with jazz. There are also a couple of jazz standards, reworked to fit the Meurkens style, and my favorite track on the album was one of those. "Bernie's Tune," which features Meurkens alternating between vibes and harmonica, gave me a new take on a familiar tune. Another jazz standard, "You Don't Know What Love Is," is a ballad that provides us with a lush sax lead from Levy, while another ballad, "Ocean Lights," gives us the opportunity to enjoy some flute artistry from Ursaia, but both songs still maintain the distinctive Brazilian fusion feel. Meurkens has composed several of the songs on the album, including the title tune, but those from recognized Brazilian jazz composers will be more familiar to listeners. Especially well represented is the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim, and his familiar "Fotografia" was a delight to hear with a two-sax lead from Levy and Ursaia. Another successful outing for Hendrik Meurkens and his cohorts, who have managed to steer a course through the jazz world that's straight and true to their vision of Brazilian jazz."

Jersey Jazz:

"For those who saw HENDRICK MUERKENS at Jazzfest last June, you are aware that he plays eclectic programs, and always invests each selection with a Brazilian jazz flavoring while maintaining a respect for the original material. In his newest release, Sambatropolis (Zoho – 200801), he has taken two standards, “You Don’t Know What Love Is” and “Bernie’s Tune,” added Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Fotografia” and “Você Vai Ver,” and Adrioni Giffoni’s “Nem Lá, Nem Cá,” and effectively blended them with six of his original tunes to create an album of varying moods, sublime musicianship and interesting arrangements that keeps the listener involved from start to finish. The musicians are Meurkens on harmonica and vibes, Rodrigo Ursaia and/or Jed Levy on tenor sax and flute, Helio Alves or Ian MacDonald on piano, Gustavo Amarante on bass and Adriano Santos, Mauricio Zottarelli or Duduka da Fonseca on drums, and Pedro Ramos on cavaquinho on one track. Meurkens is always striving to find new combinations of instruments to enhance his music. Here he blends Ursaia’ flute with his harmonica during his lovely ballad, “Ocean Lights,” and pairs the tenors of Ursaia and Levy with harmonica and rhythm to explore Jobim’s classic “Fotografia.” This is a collection of music that draws you in, especially the robust carnival feeling of “Choro da Neve.” If you need an injection of musical energy and uplift, Sambatropolis is just the right answer for you."