Hendrik Meurkens

Hendrik Meurkens is a vibraphonist and chromatic harmonica player widely regarded as the most important jazz harmonicist since Toots Thielemans. Born in Hamburg in 1957 to Dutch parents, he took up the vibraphone at sixteen and the harmonica three years later after hearing Thielemans, and studied at Berklee. In the early 1980s he moved to Rio de Janeiro and steeped himself in Brazilian music, a sound that has flavored his work ever since. Now based in New York, he records for labels including Concord and leads his own quartet and quintet, moving fluidly between straight ahead jazz and Brazilian repertoire.