Hey, Jazz fans!!!

 Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify. 

In his very productive career, Henrik Meurkens has excelled on both harmonica and vibraphone in many different settings—ranging from straight ahead jazz to Brazilian music. He’s collaborated with such notables as Herb Ellis, Mundell Lowe, Charlie Byrd, James Moody, Paquito D’Rivera and Ray Brown among many others. There have been relatively few meetings in jazz between harmonica players and organists. The usual organ quartet is comprised of organ, tenor sax, guitar and drums. “I’m surprised that the combination…with harmonica has rarely ever happened before,” Hendrik says. “The harmonica fits perfectly into the classic organ group.” As one can hear throughout the new CD, “Cobb’s Pocket,” the harmonica works quite well in the format. The title refers to legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb, whom Meurkens works with for the third time on disc.

     New Masters is a rotating ensemble of leading, up-and-coming and established musicians, as part of a genre-defying project entitled “Reworks.” “Vol.1” is a collection of some of today’s tops hits reinterpreted by an impressive lineup of brilliant representatives of the jazz world, including pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer Eric Harland, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, and guitarist Gilad Hekselman. They focus on songs drawn from the top of today’s pop charts including tunes by Cardi B, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Juice WRLD, The Weekend and SZA. The membership of New Masters is intended to rotate in the future, to elevate attention of the project and expand the audience for the individual players.

Also this week, bassist and composer Ben Wolfe pays tribute to his late father and presents a meditation of what it means to be a father to his own son on “Fatherhood”;

vocalist and composer Sara Gazarek offers up an intimate collection of largely original songs and a few choice covers on her sixth release, “Thirsty Ghost”;

      and saxophonist Diego Rivera, a member of the jazz faculty at Michigan State University, is supported by trombonist Michael Dease, and trumpeter Joe Magnarelli on “Connections.”