Hendrik Meurkens - Dig This Samba! (1998)

Dig This Samba' was recorded as part of a live session for radio broadcasting at Saarlandischer Rundfunk in Saarbrucken, Germany over a period of three short days and finds both Meurkens and Fest in top form. Each of the eleven songs on this album is a true gem, carved from a moment of inspiration that only the notion of the two distinct worlds of Brazil and jazz could provide. Admittedly, when it comes to Brazilian jazz, the harmonica isn't the first instrument to spring to mind. Somehow, Brazil's curious blending of the diverse African, European, Japanese and American cultures which brought it the guitar, bandolim, cavaquinho, accordian, piano and a host of percussion instruments, couldn't find room for the harmonica and that's why the world needs Hendrik Meurkens.