HENDRIK MEURKENS
One of the most unique and captivating voices in jazz brings his quartet to The Side Door. Hendrik Meurkens is a virtuoso on both the chromatic harmonica and the vibraphone and is widely regarded as the most important jazz harmonica player since Toots Thielemans. Born in Hamburg and now based in New York, his path to musical mastery is one of jazz’s most extraordinary stories. As a teenager, a Benny Goodman record with Lionel Hampton lit the fuse — he had to play vibraphone. Then, at nineteen, he heard Toots Thielemans for the first time and knew he had to play harmonica too. He perfected his unique musical voice at Berklee as a vibraphone major, then moved to Rio de Janeiro in the early 1980s to immerse himself completely in the music and culture of Brazil.
His poignant, emotionally affecting harmonica proved to be a sound that Brazilians strongly embraced, and that deep love of Brazilian music , samba, bossa nova, choro, has never left him, infusing everything he plays with a warmth and rhythmic vitality that is entirely his own. Back in Germany by 1983, he became a respected studio musician, recording with European Radio Orchestras and accompanying visiting legends like Harry “Sweets” Edison and Buddy Tate. He then moved to New York on an exclusive contract with Concord Records and has since released over fifteen acclaimed albums as a leader, performing at festivals and clubs around the world.
The Band
Hendrik Meurkens – Harmonica & Vibraphone
Steve Ash – Piano
Joe Fitzgerald – Bass
Ben Bilello – Drums
Cover: $27.98
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Roland was born May 17, 1920 in New York City and began as a clarinetist, attending the Institute of Musical Art (The Juilliard School) from 1937 to 1939. He started playing the xylophone in 1940 and then the vibraphone in the middle of the decade, playing in the New York jazz clubs. Influenced by the nascent bebop movement, Roland put together his own ensembles late in the decade.
By the 1950s he was playing with Oscar Pettiford, George Shearing, Howard McGhee, Mat Mathews, Aaron Sachs, and with Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five alongside Hank Jones, Tal Farlow, and Tommy Potter. Mat Mathews and Aaron Sachs. Roland recorded occasionally as a leader releasing albums for Rainbow, Savoy, Seeco and Bethlehem records.
In the early sixties Joe moved to Miami Florida and became an influential part of a thriving South Florida jazz scene. While working the Coconut Grove he was credited for having trained many young musicians from the University of Miami. Vibraphonist Joe Roland would work steadfastly throughout his life until his death of natural causes at the age of 89 in Jupiter, Florida on October 12, 2009.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bob Leatherbarrow was born on May 3, 1955 in Buffalo, New York. He studied drums with Charlie Lorigo, orchestral percussion with John Rowland of the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the vibraphone with Dave Samuels. He began working professionally at age 14, attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts before moving to Los Angeles in 1978 to further pursue a career in music.
Throughout his career in jazz, Bob has been a member of Ernie Watts Quartet for over 25 years, has performed and recorded with Joe Farrell, Victor Feldman, Horace Silver, Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, The Bill Holman Band, the Bob Florence Jazz Orchestra and Howard Roberts among others. He has also recorded in other genres with Gordon Lightfoot, Bette Midler, Placido Domingo, Dolly Parton and Henry Mancini.
Leatherbarrow has appeared of film and television soundtracks for The Simpsons, Family Guy, Austin Powers, Bruce Almighty, The Cleveland Show and The Life Aquatic to name a few, and drummed the iconic snare rolls that begin the sound signature of 20th Century Fox Studios.
Doubling on vibraphone, Bob Leatherbarrow has backed singers like Peggy Lee, Greta Matassa, Lorraine Feather and Nelly Furtado along with Stanley Clarke, Bill Perkins and his own group Polychrome, with whom he continues to compose and perform.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Warren Chiasson was born on April 17, 1934 in Cheticamp, Nova Scotia and began his music training on the violin and by age 13 was playing sessions with noted fiddlers at dances, stage and radio shows. In high school he played the trombone and became inspired by George Shearing, which led him to study modern jazz.
But it was seeing Lionel Hampton play while in college that sealed his career path. He bought a small xylophone, left school, joined the Royal Canadian Artillery Band as a trombonist, practiced 8 hours a day, got a chance audition in New York for George Shearing and a week later was touring the world playing opposite Dave Brubeck and the Modern Jazz Quartet.
A pioneer of the four-mallet vibraphone technique, Warren has formed his own group and collaborated, played and recorded with such artists as Paul Bley, Chet Baker, Roland Hanna, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Garrison, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, Joe Farrell, Hank Crawford, Les McCann, Helen Ward, Wilbur Ware and Joe Chambers.
He played vibes in New York through the 1960s and spent four years playing percussion for the Broadway musical Hair. In 1972 he reunited with Shearing again, released a record under his own name and in the mid-1970s he toured with Roberta Flack.
Chiasson played on B.B. King’s Grammy winning album Blues ‘n Jazz, and played the 50th anniversary of From Spirituals to Swing at Carnegie Hall, filling in for Lionel Hampton, who was unable to perform. At 83 vibraphonist Warren Chiasson continues to record and perform.
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JASON MARSALIS QUARTET
Jason Marsalis Quartet With Vanisha Gould, Mustafa, Trio De Janeiro featuring Magela Herrera and The John Marquis Trio
Hailing from NOLA and the youngest son of the Marsalis clan led by the late patriarch Ellis Marsalis, the jazz drummer, vibraphonist, composer, producer, band leader, brings his talents to Magic City for the Sankofa Jazz Concert.
The Sankofa Jazz Concert is a vibrant celebration of jazz music’s enduring legacy and its profound influence on American culture. Showcasing both traditional and contemporary jazz styles, the event honors the genre’s historical roots while highlighting its ongoing evolution and cultural significance.
Tickets: $35.00
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