Jazz Vespers: Hendrik Meurkens and Steve Ash
About this Event
Welcome to Jazz Vespers!
However you are connecting with Saint Peter's, we hope you will find a wide and warm embrace. Among the skyscrapers and hustle and bustle of Midtown, this is a place of respite and renewal. Whether in person in our Sanctuary, or streaming from home. Jazz Vespers is free of charge with donations welcome at the door or online.
About Jazz Vespers
Jazz Vespers, NYC's unique jazz prayer service, is held every Sunday at 5:00 P.M. Originating in 1965 with The Rev. John Garcia Gensel, he believed jazz to be "probably the best music for worship because it speaks to the existential situation of a human being. It is the personal expression of the person playing it." Saint Peter’s Church, the “First Church of Jazz,” remains a spiritual home to jazz musicians and lovers of jazz. Founded by Ruth and Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Joe Newman and Sheila Jordan, among many others, today the community represents the best of the New York City jazz scene.
This Week We Welcome...
Hendrik Meurkens (harmonica)
Steve Ash (piano)
About Hendrik Meurkens
Jazz harmonica virtuoso, vibraphonist and composer Hendrik Meurkens began his career in Germany playing vibes. At 19, he heard Toots Thielemans play harmonica, which totally changed his musical life. His career has taken him from Brazil to Germany, then throughout the European continent where he became a pivotal force on the studio and jazz scene, performing, composing, recording, and touring extensively with his own ensembles as well as with visiting legends Harry Sweets Edison and Buddy Tate. In 1989, he returned to Brazil to record his first album as a leader, "Samba Importado". In 1992, a trip to California led to his signing with the Concord label, and the resulting six recordings established him as the first major new voice on the harmonica since Toots Thielemans and as a vibes player in the mainstream tradition. He moved to New York in 1992 where he has lived ever since. His 30 CDs have received rave reviews and strong airplay, and established his immediately recognizable style of Brazilian Jazz. In 2014 he won the Brazilian International Press Award. Critics and the jazz listening public alike have recognized Meurkens' incredible talent, listing him repeatedly in the Downbeat and Jazziz Polls. Meurkens has recorded and performed with Ray Brown, Paquito D'Rivera, Oscar Castro-Neves, Herb Ellis, Herbie Mann, James Moody, Charlie Byrd, Jimmy Cobb, Ivan Lins, Monty Alexander, Manfredo Fest, Herb Ellis, Dori Caymmi, Toninho Horta, Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Buddy Tate, Joyce, Astrud Gilberto, Roberto Menescal, Antonio Adolfo, Emilio Santiago, and many others.
About Saint Peter’s
If you are looking for a religious community, this may be a place for you! We are a Sanctuary and Reconciling in Christ Parish of the ELCA. We are a bi-lingual English-speaking and Spanish-speaking community. We are Brown, Black, White and more. We are persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Some of us hold citizenship, others of us are Dreamers, asylees or seeking documentation. A good way to begin this journey is to participate in our Sunday liturgies.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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