Toots Thielemans

Toots Thielemans was born on April 29, 1922 in Brussels, Belgium as Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidore Thielemans.

During the German occupation of Belgium beginning in 1940, he became attracted to jazz, but was then playing on full-size accordion or a harmonica, which he taught himself to play in his teens.

After being introduced to the music of Belgian-born jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt, he became inspired to teach himself guitar, which he did by listening to Reinhardt's recordings. At the time he was a college student majoring in math. By the war's end in 1945, he considered himself a full-time musician. He said in 1950, "Django is still one of my main influences, I think, for lyricism. He can make me cry when I hear him." During an interview in 1988, he recalled, "I guess I was born at the right time to live and adapt and be touched by the evolution in the jazz language.".

Benny Goodman hired him for his band during its 1950 European tour. He also played and recorded with Oscar Peterson, Pat Metheny, Shirley Horn, Dizzy Gillespie, and Quincy Jones.

From 1953 to 1959 he played with George Shearing, and then led his own groups on tours in the U.S. and Europe.

In 1961 he recorded and performed live one of his own compositions, "Bluesette", which featured him playing guitar and whistling.

A jazz standard by Toots Thielemans is his own composition, "Bluesette," which he performed on harmonica or while playing the guitar and whistling in unison. He said, "If there's a piece of music that describes me, it's that song." First recorded by him in 1962, with lyrics added by Norman Gimbel, the song became a major worldwide hit. It has since been covered by over one hundred artists.

Among the film soundtracks that Thielemans recorded are The Pawnbroker (1964), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Sugarland Express (1974) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).

His harmonica is heard in the theme songs to "Sesame Street" and "Midnight Cowboy", and many other film scores. He whistled the Old Spice deodorant commercial in the 1970s and '80s.

He recorded with singers and musicians including Ella Fitzgerald,[6] Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Stephane Grappelli, J.J. Johnson, Oscar Peterson, Shirley Horn, Joe Pass, and jazz pianist Bill Evans, among others. Thielemans says that his recording with Evans' trio, Affinity, (1979) was one of his favorites.

He is known for his work on French Kiss (1995), The Getaway (1972) and Hard Rain (1998). He was married to Huguette Tuytschaever and Netty de Greef.

In 2006, Thielemans was honoured by an all-star tribute concert for him at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Herbie Hancock and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera were among the performers.

In 2009 he was designated a Jazz Master by The National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor for a jazz musician in the United States.

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 was buried on the 27th of August 2016 in La Hulpe, just outside Brussels. Pianist Kenny Werner read a personal message by U.S. President Barack Obama for his widow, Huguette. It read: "Dear Huguette. I was deeply saddened when I heard about your husband's passing. I hope that shared memories will soften your suffering. Lift faith from the support of friends and family. Know that you will be in my thoughts for the next days. May Toots' music lead you and offer you consolation. I'm sure it will do this for all of us.".