HENDRIK MEURKENS QUINTET
Hendrik Meurkens, a virtuoso on both the chromatic harmonica and the vibraphone, is the most important jazz harmonica player since Toots Thielemans. German-born but now based in New York, Meurkens’ recordings and performances garner worldwide acclaim because the transcendent beauty of his music has universal appeal.
A two-mallet player in the tradition of Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson, Hendrik Meurkens was en-route to being an instantly recognizable vibraphonist when he heard Toots Thielemans. Inspired by the sound of Thielemans’ harmonica, he taught himself the difficult-to-master instrument.
Hendrik Meurkens’ other life-changing musical experience was his introduction to samba and bossa nova. He was so moved by Brazilian music that after perfecting his unique musical voice at Berklee, as a vibraphone major, he moved to Rio in the early 80s to totally immerse himself in music and culture of Brazil.
More Posts: adventure,club,genius,harmonica,jazz,music,preserving,travel
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Oscar Klein was born on January 5, 1930 in Graz, Austria. His family fled the Nazis when he was young. He became known for older jazz like swing and Dixieland.
In the early Sixties he joined the famous Dutch Swing College Band in the Netherlands as first trumpeter and he is to be found on several of their recordings.
He played with Lionel Hampton, Joe Zawinul, Jerry Ricks and others. In 1996 he was honored by the Austrian President Thomas Klestil
Trumpeter Oscar Klein, who also played clarinet, harmonic and swing guitar, died on December 12, 2006 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
More Posts: clarinet,guitar,harmonica,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trumpet
YVONNICK PRENÉ QUINTET
Yvonnick Prené was already playing the harmonica professionally by the age of 17 in Parisian jazz clubs. He later earned a master’s degree in music at the Sorbonne University in Paris, in 2011 and while still enrolled, he moved to New York City, receiving multiple scholarships at the City College of New York, Columbia University and at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.
Prené has worked with top artists like Pasquale Grasso, Peter Bernstein, Kevin Hays, Bill Stewart, and many others.
More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,harmonica,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel
Three Wishes
The Baroness asked Larry Adler, if three wishes were grantable, what would they be and he replied this:
-
-
“I don’t know there is anything I want that badly. I live very much in the present and so my wishes are pretty damn well gratified. I’d like to write a show. Because all I’ve written so far are film scores, and you can’t tell by them if you’re a good composer or not. Even though one of my film scores got an Academy Award ~ my first film score, in fact! But you only really know when you write a show, and the music carries the show, and has an independent life outside the show. Gershwin is a good example of that..””And help a chick. You know: We have a common understanding.”
- “I’d like to be the best father it’s possible to be.”
- “I’d like to be emotionally where I am chronologically. Chronologically, I’m forty-eight. Emotionally, I’m nineteen ~ if I am nineteen!”
-
More Posts: baroness,harmonica,history,instrumental,jazz,music,pannonica,three,wishes
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jolyon Hunter was born on December 1, 1926 in Ealing, London, England and moved with his actor parents to America in 1935. He studied the French horn at two military schools before switching to trumpet. By 1943 he returned home to Britain and attended the Royal College of Music before joining the war effort in the British Army.
In 1950 Jo left Army service and joined the Kenny Graham Afro Cubists, working with them off and on until 1957. Departing the group, he then worked for a short time with Roy Fox, followed by a five year residence with the Jack Parnell Big Band. He went on to play with Oscar Rabin, replacing Jimmy Deuchar.
Moving to Brighton, he worked with local bands and was an active freelancer on both trumpet and piano. In his later years he worked on cruise ships and played harmonica. Trumpeter and pianist Jo Hunter, who also played pianist and harmonica, passed away on August 14, 2016 at the age of 89.
More Posts: harmonica,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano,trumpet