Jazz harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Muerkens performs September 30 with his quartet at the Mainstay in Rock Hall.
World renowned jazz harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens will bring his quartet to the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Sunday September 30 at 4:00 p.m. Admission is $20. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website .
An eloquent player on an unlikely jazz instrument, Hendrik Meurkens is “one of the world’s leading exponents of the jazz harmonica.” So said Marcela Breton in JazzTimes. Frank-John Hadley said in Downbeat, “…he has a natural inclination for seeking out beauty, for breathing harmony of color into themes and extemporizations.”
Hendrik Meurkens was born in Germany to a Dutch father and German mother who had jazz and Brazilian records in their music collection. “I heard the music and that was the start of it,” he remembers. He began with piano lessons and played drums in the basement with friends. At sixteen, he devoted himself to the vibraphone, because, “the vibes seemed to be the best marriage between the piano and drums.”
Three years later his life changed upon hearing Toots Thielemans play the harmonica. He bought his own chromatic harmonica the very next day. Meurkens says. “It’s a wonderfully expressive instrument… like the saxophone, you can work with the tone and develop your own sound.”
In search of his own musical voice, he came to Boston in 1977 to attend the Berklee College of Music where he studied for three years. A vibes major, he secretly played his harmonica whenever possible. Immersing himself in the music of Charlie Parker, he transcribed Bird’s solos and mastered them on the harmonica. As he jammed with his fellow Berklee students, they encouraged him to pursue a career on the chromatic harmonica.
Still fascinated with Brazilian music, he moved to Brazil in 1982 at the invitation of Maurício Einhorn, the great Brazilian harmonica player and composer of several classics of bossa nova. Meurkens took an apartment in Rio and soon began a regular Monday gig at the popular Bar 21.
In Brazilian music, he found a beauty and simplicity that touched a profound chord. “I’ve always been attracted to music that focuses on melody and harmonic beauty. That could be Bach, of course, but for me, the perfect music is Brazilian because of its sympathetic emotional context.”
Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi observes, “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.”
After his Brazilian sabbatical, he returned to his native Germany and became a pivotal force in the German studio and jazz scene, both playing, and composing. With his unique voice on both the chromatic harmonica and vibraphone, he quickly became an important musician on the European scene and founded his own quartet.
In 1990, his wife was studying at University of California at Berkeley and when he came to see her, he ended up in a local record store. Discovering that Concord Records was nearby via the BART public transport system, he took his first album to their office and presented it to label founder Carl Jefferson. Jefferson decided to sign Hendrik Meurkens to the label and got him a working visa. He moved to New York permanently in 1992 and has been a resident ever since.
At the Mainstay, Hendrik Meurkens will be joined by Chuck Redd on drums with Victor Dvoskin on bass and Wayne Wilentz on piano.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), non profit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hall, MD and the surrounding region. It is committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Wine, beer, sodas and snacks are available at the bar.
The Mainstay is supported by ticket sales, fundraising including donations from friends and audience members and an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website.
Upcoming Mainstay performances include:
October 12 Toby Walker (a Rock Hall FallFest concert)
October 13 Sue Matthews Sings Sinatra (a Rock Hall FallFest concert)
October 18 Max’s Mainstay All-Stars Reunion
October 27 Dick Durham Trio
November 3 Washington College Independent Playhouse production “Give Her Away”
November 4 Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen
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