Hendrik Meurkens - The Jazz Meurkengers

Styles: Harmonica Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 53:42
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 123,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:49) 1. A Slow One
(6:09) 2. Belgian Beer At Dawn
(6:01) 3. A Lullaby For Benny
(5:37) 4. Silver's Serenade
(6:05) 5. Meurks' Mood
(6:59) 6. Dreamsville
(5:53) 7. If I Were A Bell
(5:46) 8. A Tear For Toots
(5:19) 9. Smada

Harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens brought together an outstanding group of musicians in The Jazz Meurkengers, which is a swinging tribute to the allure of hard-bop jazz. Supported by the resourceful and highly adaptable rhythm section of pianist Steve Ash, bassist Chris Berger and drummer Andy Watson, the band was augmented by the impeccable guitarist Ed Cherry on four tracks and bebop tenor saxophonist Nick Hampton on four different tracks giving the ensemble the energy, creativity, and reverence of the jazz tradition.

The nine-track session opens with a Meurkens original, "A Slow One," with a bubbling tone and slicing swing. Meurkens, Cherry and Ash are leading the way, each focusing equally on melody and texture as they interrogate the music. "Belgian Beer At Dawn" is another Meurkens number and contrafact based on the chord changes on "Stella By Starlight." It is a spirited chart, with Meurkens offering a juicy and distinct solo while Hampton's tenor has a rich tone in his unhurried playing. Watson makes his drums musically expressive in his exchanges with Meurkens and Hampton.

Horace Silver's composition "Silver's Serenade" comes from the 1963 Blue Note recording of the same name. It is one of Silver's most recognizable pieces, with an artful balance of mood and structure. Meurkens, Cherry and Ash use authoritative solos filled with long, seamless phrases conveying knowledge of harmony and form. Peter Gunn was a 1950s TV detective series in which jazz was noteworthy. The Henry Mancini composition "Dreamsville" was the background music to the romantic sequences. Meurkens, Cherry, and Ash are again front and center, with solos unsurpassed in clarity and elegance. In all the charts in which Cherry participated, his guitar work has been fluid and expressive, and his solos brimming with soul and sophistication.

"If I Were A Bell" was composed by Frank Loesser for the 1950 musical "Guys and Dolls." It became a jazz standard after it was recorded by trumpeter Miles Davis on the 1958 Prestige album Relaxin' with The Miles Davis Quintet. Meurkens' arrangement has a powerful sense of swing with an energetic solo from Hampton. Ash's up-tempo excursion shows he is a pianist who relishes logic and discovery.

Toots Thielemans was a Belgian-born musician who made his mark on jazz history with the playing of the chromatic harmonica. Acknowledging his inspiration from his playing, Meurkens wrote a ballad, " A Tear For Toots." for Thielemans's centennial year in 2022. Meurkens' reading is heartfelt and filled with delicate lyricism. Both Cherry and Ash are emotionally lucid and sure-footed. In summary, Meurkens and his ensemble have crafted a tasteful and inventive release.By Pierre Giroux https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-jazz-meurkengers-hendrik-meurkens-cellar-music-group

Personnel: Hendrik Meurkens - harmonica; Ed Cherry - guitar on tracks 1,4,6,8; Nick Hempton - tenor saxophone on tracks 2,5,7,9; Steve Ash - piano; Chris Berger - bass; Andy Watson - drums

The Jazz Meurkengers

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Nick Hempton - Odd Man Out

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:05
Size: 147,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:44)  1. Nice Crackle
(5:45)  2. Five Ways Through Harsimus Cove
(4:37)  3. The Winnie Blues
(5:24)  4. Day Dream
(6:37)  5. The Set-Up
(4:55)  6. Fifth Floor Run-Up
(5:58)  7. Nights and Mornings
(7:42)  8. The Slip
(5:33)  9. A Bicycle Accident
(6:48) 10. Streetlight Lament
(5:57) 11. Blue Shadows

So, just who is the Odd Man Out? It's not exactly one of the great enigmas of modern times, but it's something to ponder. Not for too long, though, for time will be much better spent enjoying the music. Odd Man Out is the third album from saxophonist Nick Hempton and his band and it represents a notable step forward for what was already an impressive and hugely enjoyable ensemble. So what's changed since Hempton's second album The Business (Posi-Tone Records, 2011)? In many ways it's business as usual on Odd Man Out: same label, same band, same straight-ahead, swinging, approach, same combination of originals plus two covers. Hempton is once again staring out from the right side of the cover, although he now sports a neatly-trimmed beard and a quizzical eyebrow. But there's a bit more stylistic breadth, a few extra surprises, on album number three. Trombonist Michael Dease is a very welcome guest. Paired with Hempton's tight, dry saxophone tone Dease's open, warm trombone really helps to enrich the sound, whether it's on up-tempo numbers such as "Nice Crackle" or slinky groovers like "The Set-Up," which also features a good-humored Dease solo. Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's "Day Dream" written for alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges proves to be a terrific vehicle for Hempton's more considered and reflective side. The ballad is a duet between Hempton and Art Hirahara, with the pianist providing a beautifully judged accompaniment to the saxophonist's melodic interpretation of the tune. Hempton's own "Nights And Mornings" offers another chance for him to show his skills as a balladeer, this time on a film-noirish tune full of images of rainstorms and lonely streets. There are some odd little twists, too. "Five Ways Through Harsimus Cove" sounds at first as though Hempton's soundtracking the progress of a cat burglar in a '60s crime caper. "A Bicycle Accident" has an improvised feel, resolving gradually to the album's more characteristic straight-ahead sound then pausing briefly before kicking in with a selection of moods and grooves a little Latin, a spot of R&B and eventually ending with the plaintive sound of Dan Aran's cymbals. Randy Newman's "Blue Shadows" (from the 1986 movie Three Amigos) adds a bit of country to the mix. Marco Panascia's jaunty bass line and Aran's rat-a-tat percussion set things up for a Roy Rogers vocal, so it's almost a surprise when Hempton's saxophone enters instead. Although it would probably be even more of a surprise if Rogers did suddenly burst into song. ~ Bruce Lindsay https://www.allaboutjazz.com/odd-man-out-nick-hempton-posi-tone-records-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Nick Hempton: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone; Michael Dease: trombone; Art Hirahara: piano; Marco Panascia: double bass; Dan Aran: drums.

Odd Man Out

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Nick Hempton - Catch and Release

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:07
Size: 120,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:27)  1. Hanging for Dear Life
(7:39)  2. Change for a Dollar
(7:32)  3. Target Practice
(5:09)  4. Montauk Mosey
(5:44)  5. The Third Degree
(6:18)  6. Nordberg Suite
(6:23)  7. Catch Up
(6:52)  8. Catch and Release

When it come to music release methods, there's nothing more stubborn or persistent than the single. Music has fallen in and out of love with so many different formats over the years, but the one-song-at-a-time method of digestion has weathered every shift, spat, and alteration that life and technology have thrown at it. In fact, it's stronger than ever in this download and post-download age. So what, pray tell, does that have to do with this album? Everything.  In 2014, saxophonist Nick Hempton decided to use a novel concept to tap into the single-seeking listener base. The premise was a simple and familiar one: release one song at a time. But the twist came with the hit-and-run approach behind these singles. Instead of recording an album's worth of music and dropping one song at a time, each song was an island or an album unto itself. A makeshift studio was put together in New York's Smalls Jazz Club on multiple occasions. Then Hempton and company would have a midday session where they would record a single song, later to be mixed and sent on its way all by its lonesome. Each and every part of the process was documented for all to see on a blog. The whole thing was dubbed the "Catch and Release Experiment," and it produced a good number of strong performances that existed as completely separate entities. Now, in a reversal of strategy, Hempton is catering to the album-loving crowd by bundling all of these pieces together on CD. The album opens on the hip "Hanging For Life," a casual swinger that downshifts for a spell before returning to its original feel. Then Hempton welcomes guest tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon to the party for the lively, bop-leaning "Change For A Dollar." The band sounds tight, the two saxophonists have a chance to bat things around with traded solos, pianist Tadataka Unno gets a chance to shine, and the multiple winks at "Laura" are a smile-inducing cherry on top. Then there's "Target Practice," a number in three that gives drummer Dan Aran a little space to shine; "Montauk Mosey," which finds Hempton and guest pianist Rosanno Sportiello working in a wonderfully relaxed vein together; the Peter Bernstein-enhanced "The Third Degree," a Latin-inflected winner that would've felt right at home on a '60s Blue Note album; and "Nordberg Suite," a cheery, drummer-less small group number that brings trumpeter Bruce Harris into the mix.

The final two pieces on the album dispense with the guests and focus on a core quartet of Hempton, Aran, pianist Jeremy Manasia, and bassist Dave Baron. Together they shift from uncertain terrain to a Coltrane-ish blues feel in five on "Catch Up" before closing out the album with the energetic title track. While this was initially a single-centric project, Catch And Release makes a very favorable impression as a full album. When you consider the facts these tracks were each recorded at different times, personnel changed from number to number, engineer Andrew Swift had to basically rebuild a studio setup each time Hempton wanted to record you start to realize that this could've turned out to be an incredibly inconsistent release in terms of sound quality, vibe, and group dynamics. But it isn't. Hempton's vision and leadership, Swift's skills on the recording side, and the talented individuals on these tracks all help to make Catch And Release a solid and satisfying listen from start to finish. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/catch-and-release-nick-hempton-self-produced-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Nick Hempton: saxophones; Dan Aran: drums; Dave Baron: bass; Tadataka Unno: piano (1-3); Jeremy Manasia: piano (5-8); Jerry Weldon: tenor saxophone (2); Rossano Sportiello: piano (4); Peter Bernstein: guitar (5); Bruce Harris: trumpet (6).

Catch and Release

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