Hendrik Meurkens interview

Hendrik Meurkens joins me on episode 84.
Hendrik is a German chromatic player who has been living in New York since the early 1990s.
Toots Thielemans was Hendrik’s inspiration to take up the chromatic and he performed a live radio show in Germany with Toots.
Hendrik is also a vibraphone player, which he studied at the Berklee College of Music. Shortly after this he spent a year in Brazil to immerse himself in the music there. This helped him form his brand of Brazilian music, Samba Jazz.
Hendrik has a large album catalogue, including six albums with the prestigious jazz label Concord, and has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in Brazilian and jazz music.

Links:

Hendrik's website:
https://hendrikmeurkens.com/

Bandcamp site:
https://hendrikmeurkens.bandcamp.com/

Hendrik’s album catalogue:
https://hendrikmeurkens.com/portfolio/

Tutorial site:
https://www.mymusicmasterclass.com/artist/artists/hendrik-meurkens/

Videos:

Hendrick playing vibes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbIMf3iMNkQ

Tribute To Toots concert in Uruguay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jcUG7RTNWQ

Playing with WDR Big Band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzyE4Yv2xlo

Playing at the Blue Note in New York:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuIAVFDAmqA

Sambatropolis with WDR Big Band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_G2RuvtyMI

Dolores Claiborne movie clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSMimK5uUik

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com  or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS

Chapters

• 1:32 Hendrik is first and foremost a jazz musician
• 1:51 Born in Germany and later moved to New York City
• 2:39 Had piano lessons as a child, played a little drums, but first serious instrument was the vibraphone
• 3:40 Famous vibraphone players
• 4:10 Toots inspired Hendrik to take up the chromatic
• 4:50 Doesn’t see any similarities between vibraphone and chromatic harmonica
• 5:35 Attended the Berkeley School of Music in 1977, where he studied vibraphone, playing some chromatic on the side
• 6:13 Entirely self-taught on chromatic
• 6:54 Saw Toots performing live a few times
• 7:17 Hendrik played a Toots tribute concert in Uruguay, shortly after Toots had passed away
• 7:49 Toots released two albums of Brazilian music
• 8:00 Chromatic harmonica works really well in Brazilian music, and some of the limitations of chromatic in jazz music
• 8:45 Hendrik fell in love with Brazilian music before he heard Toots play it
• 9:26 Recorded a live radio broadcast with Toots in Germany in the early 1990s
• 10:08 Hendrik performed at the 100th birthday celebration for Toots in Brussels in 2022
• 10:41 Moved back to Germany and played in a swing band and as a session musician for several years
• 11:46 Played with some big bands in Europe, and what’s it like playing with them
• 14:28 Plays Brazilian music, Samba Jazz, moving there for a year in the early 1980s to immerse himself in the music and culture
• 15:54 Strong harmonica presence in Brazilian music
• 17:38 Hendrik’s decision to move to Brazil in the early 80s was based on going to the source of the music
• 18:45 Had a regular Monday night gig in Rio, and how a German accepted by local musicians
• 19:34 Won first prize of the German Phono Academy for Jazz in 1983
• 19:59 Hendrik has recorded 26 albums in his own name
• 20:35 Recording albums is more of a challenge these days, due to streaming
• 21:13 Chromatic harmonica sound quality can be problematic when playing live. This isn’t a problem when recording
• 22:01 First album released was Samba Importado in 1989, recorded in Brazil
• 22:19 Composes a lot of songs on album himself
• 23:25 Story of how Hendrik signed with Concord records, with second album, Sambahia, including sax player Paquito D’Rivera
• 26:29 Signing with Concord earned Hendrik his Green Card into the US
• 26:54 Moved to New York in 1992, the best jazz scene in the world
• 27:59 Has performed at the Blue Note jazz club in New York
• 28:14 Competitive music environment of New York
• 29:17 Clear of Clouds album from 1992
• 29:52 First New York album was A View From Manhattan, recorded in 1993
• 30:30 October Colours album from 1994, Hendrik’s ‘desert island disc’
• 31:35 Album in 1997 with the New York Samba Jazz All-stars, and careful use of high notes on the chromatic
• 33:26 Two albums with eminent guitarist Mundell Lowe
• 34:30 Hendrik still likes to release albums even though the money return is not what it was
• 35:44 Amazon River album from 2004
• 37:41 Chorinho is another style of Brazilian music played by Hendrik
• 38:30 Junity album with pianist Misha Tsiganov
• 39:39 Harmonicus Rex album has Jimmy Cobb on drums, who was the drummer from the Miles Davis Kind of Blue album
• 41:18 Cabin In The Sky album from 2018, and albums that followed
• 42:33 Recently recorded a Christmas album
• 43:31 Some of other artists Hendrik has recorded with, mostly on New York session scene
• 44:12 Recordings with Bossa Nova piano legend Manfredo Fest
• 44:52 Wrote a song with the movie Dolores Claiborne, starring Kathy Burke, with Hendrik appearing in the movie playing the song
• 45:27 Hendrik uses the piano when composing (although he wouldn’t call himself a piano player), and writing lyrics
• 46:47 Has an online teaching resource and teaches online and private lessons
• 47:32 Appeared at the Trossingen festival in Germany in the 1990s
• 47:46 Hendrik’s view on the crop of current chromatic jazz players, which evolution of jazz supports
• 49:02 Challenges of playing jazz on the chromatic
• 50:24 The pros and cons of being accepted playing jazz on the chromatic harmonica
• 51:57 Doesn’t play any diatonic or any other type of harmonica besides chromatic
• 52:13 10 minute question and practise regime
• 53:27 Plays 12 hole chromatics only these days (used to play some 16 hole)
• 53:46 Only plays chromatic in key of C
• 54:25 Customiser sets-up Hendrik’s instrument
• 54:54 Plays Hohner 270 chromatics
• 55:18 Embouchre: lip purser
• 55:42 DM48 MIDI chromatic, doesn’t own one but sounds interesting
• 56:13 Favourite keys playing on C chromatic
• 56:56 Amplification
• 57:14 Effects used is just reverb
• 57:38 Future plans