Harmonica player Hendrik Meurkens, leading this unusual quartet of organ (Mike LeDonne), guitar (Peter Bernstein) and drums (Jimmy Cobb), alongside Meurkens’ harmonica.
In his very productive career, Hendrik Meurkens has excelled on both harmonica and vibraphone in many different settings ranging from straight ahead jazz to Brazilian music.
He has collaborated with such notables as Herb Ellis, Mundell Lowe, Charlie Byrd, Ivan Lins, Monty Alexander, Claudio Roditi, Manfredo Fest, the Ray Brown Trio, Paquito D’Rivera, Oscar Castro-Neves and James Moody among many others. But one thing that was missing in his discography was a record with an organist, until now.
Another notable aspect of ‘Cobb’s Pocket’ is that Hendrik Meurkens teams up with drummer Jimmy Cobb for their third CD, “I’ve known Jimmy Cobb for many years and we did a few European tours together. It is one of the thrills of my life that I can talk, hang and play with him...he was part of what I consider the #1 rhythm section along with Paul Chambers, Wynton Kelly and Wes Montgomery.”
Hendrik Meurkens has also known guitarist Peter Bernstein and organist Mike LeDonne for a long time. “To me he is the perfect jazz guitarist, always swinging and tasty without being too notey; relaxed like Wes Montgomery with an emphasis on the melody. Mike LeDonne is the B3 guy in the city and he has a regular Tuesday night gig at Smoke. We did a few live dates at the old Cecil’s in New Jersey.”
