{"id":7764,"date":"2016-08-22T22:04:43","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T05:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=7764"},"modified":"2016-08-22T22:44:37","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T05:44:37","slug":"toots-thielemans-1922-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2016\/08\/toots-thielemans-1922-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Toots Thielemans 1922-2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toots Thielemans, the man who made the harmonica a well-known jazz instrument died today in Brussels, Belgium, his hometown. He was 94. Thielemans was recently hospitalized after a fall that resulted in a broken arm, but neither his family nor management representatives specified the cause of his death.<\/p>\n

\"ScreenOn an instrument often dismissed as a novelty, Thielemans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 advanced musicianship and individuality made him a respected colleague of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman and George Shearing, with all of whom he played. In Shearing’s quintet, he played both harmonica and guitar. Thielemans inspired a number of younger musicians to concentrate on the harmonica. In the 1950s, saxophonist Eddie Shu added the harmonica to his performances, as did Howard Levy later. Contemporary players include Gr\u00c3\u00a9goire Maret, William Galison, the young Swedish musician Filip Jers and the German virtuoso Hendrik Muerkens. None of them has achieved Thielemans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 popularity or the level of familiarity he attained through exposure on movie soundtracks, guest shots on albums by Billy Eckstine, Billy Joel and Julian Lennon, and appearances on television\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sesame Street<\/em>. For a thorough review of Thielemans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 career, see the obituary<\/a> by Peter Keepnews in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The following piece from the Rifftides<\/em> archive reports on a Thielemans club appearance that had all of the elements that made his performances endearing and musically rewarding<\/p>\n

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Toots And Friends<\/strong>
\nNovember 14, 2005<\/p>\n

My heavily-traveled weekend with an assemblage of couples out for a good time included an evening at Jazz Alley in Seattle eating well and hearing Toots Thielemans, Kenny Werner and Oscar Castro-Neves. Thielemans is a member of that astonishing corps of world-class jazz octogenarians (Hank Jones, Marian McPartland, James Moody, Dave Brubeck, ClarkTerry, Buddy DeFranco) who seem uninterested in slowing their pace, let alone retiring. At eighty-three, his polish, harmonic daring and swing on the harmonica keep him the undisputed champion not only of that unlikely jazz instrument but of all instruments that show up in the jazz magazines\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153miscellaneous\u00e2\u20ac\u009d poll categories.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Thielemans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 level of musicianship, categories don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter. He would likely be as creative if he played comb and tissue paper.”\u00a0 Thielemans and Werner, long established as a formidable duo, became a virtual chamber orchestra with the addition of Castro-Neves\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 guitar. There were moments at Jazz Alley when the piano, guitar and harmonica melded into chords so expansive and deep, it seemed impossible that they came from only three instruments. The authenticity of Castro-Neves\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Brazilian rhythms and bossa nova spirit were an essential part of the set\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s air of happiness. An inveterate quoter, Thielemans now and then broke himself up with some of his allusions. He threw sly glances at Werner as he worked snatches of several other Frank Sinatra hits into his solo on “All The Way.”<\/p>\n

On some pieces, Werner supplemented his piano with an electronic keyboard. His goal may have been to create atmospherics, but rather than enhance the sublime quality of the ensemble, his synthesizer \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sweetening\u00e2\u20ac\u009d diluted it. A pianist of his protean capabilities needs no digital reinforcement, as he demonstrated in brilliant solos on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Dolphin,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chega de Saudade,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and an unlikely neo-samba treatment of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153God Bless America.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The trio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s treatment of the Irving Berlin classic inspired a standing ovation, then a short speech by Thielemans about how jazz and the American people drew him to move to the United States from Belgium in 1957 and to become a US citizen. He talked about his love of Louis Armstrong. Then, as an encore, Thielemans, Werner and Castro-Neves played \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What a Wonderful World.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d For the ninety minutes of their set, the world, the band, the audience, the club, were wonderful. Everything was wonderful.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are Thielemans and Werner seven years later, without Castro-Neves, at Th\u00c3\u00a9\u00c3\u00a2tre Maisonneuve in Montreal, playing “The Days of Wine and Roses,” a song associated with Thielemans nearly from its birth.<\/p>\n

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