Toots Thielemans (born Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans, 29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016) was a Belgian jazz musician. He was known for his guitar and harmonica playing, as well as his whistling skills.

Career

Born in Brussels, Thielemans began his career as a guitar player. In 1949 he joined a jam session in Paris with Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach and others. In 1949 and 1950 he participated in European tours with Benny Goodman, making his first record in Stockholm with fellow band member, tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims. In 1951 he became a band member of the singer-songwriter and compatriot Bobbejaan Schoepen. (At the time, he was still performing strictly as a guitarist.)

He moved to the United States in 1952 where he was a member of Charlie Parker's All-Stars and worked with Miles Davis and Dinah Washington.[citation needed] From 1952 to 1959 he was a member of the George Shearing Quintet, primarily playing guitar but also being featured on harmonica both in performances and on recordings. He also played and recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Stephane Grappelli, J.J. Johnson, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Shirley Horn, and Joe Pass, among others. And once ("I'm a singer": The shadows of your smile) vith Billy Eckstine.

A jazz standard by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette," where he used whistling and guitar in unison. First recorded by him in 1962, with lyrics added by Norman Gimbel, the song became a major worldwide hit. He worked both as a bandleader and as a sideman, including many projects with composer/arranger Quincy Jones. He performed on many film soundtracks, such as Midnight Cowboy, Cinderella Liberty, Jean de Florette, The Sugarland Express, The Yakuza, Turkish Delight, the 1972 version of The Getaway, French Kiss, Dunderklumpen!, and in various television programs, including Sesame Street, whose closing credits (which did not list him accordingly) featured his performance, on harmonica, of the show's theme, the Belgian television series Witse, and in the Netherlands, for the Baantjer program. He composed the music for the 1974 Swedish film Dunderklumpen!, in which he also provided the voice of the animated character Pellegnillot. His whistling and harmonica playing can be heard on Old Spice commercials that have been made over the years.

During the 1980s he performed with the bassist Jaco Pastorius in ensembles ranging from duet to the Word of Mouth Big Band. In 1983 he contributed to Billy Joel's album An Innocent Man, and his trademark harmonica can be heard on "Leave A Tender Moment Alone." (The two later collaborated on this selection in concert, and this was recorded on video.) A year later, he appeared on the Julian Lennon song "Too Late for Goodbyes" from the album Valotte. In 1984, he recorded with Billy Eckstine on the singer's final album (I Am a Singer), featuring ballads and standards arranged and conducted by Angelo DiPippo. In the 1990s, Thielemans embarked on theme projects that included world music. In 1998 he released a French-flavoured album titled "Chez Toots" that included the Les moulins de mon cœur (The Windmills of Your Mind) featuring guest singer Johnny Mathis.

Thielmans was well liked for his modesty and kind demeanor. In his native Belgium, and was known for describing himself as a Brussels "ket," which means "street kid" in old Brussels slang. He received a joint honorary doctorate from the Université libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, and in 2001, Thielemans was ennobled a baron by King Albert II of Belgium.

In 2005 he was nominated for the title of the Greatest Belgian. In the Flemish version he finished in 20th place, and in the Walloon version he came 44th. In 2009, he became an NEA Jazz Master, the highest honour for a jazz musician in the United States.

On 23 January 2009, he joined guitarist Philip Catherine on stage at the Liberchies church (Belgium) in memory of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Django Reinhardt. In 2012, the Jazz at Lincoln Center concerts in New York celebrated Thielman's 90th birthday with, among others, Herbie Hancock, Eliane Elias, and Kenny Werner. He performed for the occasion and left the stage standing among his friends.

Retirement and last years

Because of health issues that led to show cancellations, Thielemans announced his retirement on 12 March 2014, cancelling all scheduled concerts. His manager stated that Thielemans "wants to enjoy the rest he deserves." However, he did make one more stage appearance, unannounced, in August 2014, at the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp.

Thielemans died in his sleep on 22 August 2016, at the age of 94.

Discography

Major works include:

• The Sound (Columbia, 1955)
• Time Out for Toots (Decca, 1958)
• Man Bites Harmonica! (Riverside, 1958)
• Soul (1959)
• The Whistler and His Guitar (1964, ABC-Paramount)
• Guitar and Strings...and Things (1967, Command)
• Honeysuckle Rose Aquarela Do Brasil (1969, with Elis Regina, Fontana, Philips)
• Cinderella Liberty (20th Century Fox, 1973)
• Only Trust Your Heart (1988, Concord)
• Footprints (1991, Universal)
• The Brasil Project (1992, BMG)
• The Brasil Project Vol. 2 (1993, BMG)
• Compact Jazz (1993, Verve)
• East Coast, West Coast (1994, Private Music)
• Apple Dimple (1994, Denon)
• Chez Toots (1998, Windham Hill)
• The Live Takes, Vol. 1 (2000, Quetzal Records)
• Hard to Say Goodbye: The Very Best of Toots Thielemans (2000, Universal)
• Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner (2001, Universal)
• One More for the Road (2006, Verve)
• Yesterday and Today (2012, Disques Dreyfus) "a two-CD compendium of highlights from Thielemans' first session in 1946 up to 2001", "a set of 37 previously unavailable recordings selected by friend and fellow musician Cees Schrama from over Thielemans' lengthy career." EAN 8713545212525

With Eliane Elias

• Illusions (1986, Denon)
• Bossa Nova Stories (2008, Blue Note)

With Bill Evans

• Affinity (Warner Bros., 1979)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Digital at Montreux, 1980 (Pablo, 1980)

With Urbie Green

• The Fox (CTI, 1976)

With Billy Joel

• "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" on An Innocent Man (Columbia, 1983)

With Fumio Karashima

• Rencontre (1999, Emarcy/Polydor Japan)

With Oscar Peterson

• Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival, 1980 (Pablo, 1980)

With Elis Regina

• Honeysuckle Rose Aquarela Do Brasil (1969, Philips)

With George Shearing and Dakota Staton

• In the Night (Capitol, 1958)

With Paul Simon

• "Night Game" on Still Crazy After All These Years (Columbia, 1975)

With James Last

• Theme from "Der Landarzt" (Polydor Germany, 1987)