“Hendrik is even better,” my friend, a well-known Brazilian jazz authority, stated without pause when I mentioned in the same breath the names of a noted Brazilian musician and the Dutch-born, German-raised, New York City-based harmonica ace. Chances are good that any Brazilian knowledgeable of the contemporary music scene would enthusiastically agree that Hendrik Meurkens, whose forte is the music of this culturally bountiful land, is in a class of his own.
For the last half a century, since the birth of bossa nova in 1958, thousands of jazz vocalists and instrumentalists from countries near and far have explored the heady world of such Brazilian styles as bossa, choro, samba and baião, usually with great passion but sometimes with artistically flawed results. Brazilian musicologists, critics and fans alike remain flattered that the music of their land has been and continues to be so warmly embraced by artists around the globe. They can be highly critical; however, when it comes to assessing just how well an