Mr. Thielemans passed away this morning in Belgium.
Great musician, fine gentleman and my "Grandpa".
On SPAH's wishlist for many years in the 90's, I brought Toots w/Kenny Werner to St. Louis SPAH in 1999. He had a lot of fun at the convention before flying back home to Belgium after his performance.
When I got back to Detroit after the convention, there was a message waiting for me on my answering machine. "Hello Larry. This is Toots. I just wanted to let you know that I arrived home safely."
Just like a grandpa would let his family know he made it home ok after a trip.
How do I feel about his passing? Somewhere "between a smile and a tear".
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-toots-thielemans-snap-story.html ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Aug 22, 2016 6:26 AM
That is more sad news. When I based my band out of Brussels I got to meet Toots a couple of times. I had no idea of who he was until someone told me and by then I never saw him again. He use to come to the Brussels Jazz Club when I played as a duo with my bassist. I wish I realized back then how short life was and could have pursued hanging around him more. I am forever grateful to have met him and so many others in the flesh and am doubly grateful there was no internet to distract me from seeking out the elders in the flesh. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year in the Tunnel of Dreams Studio. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
I remember when I could only find Toots playing on Qunicy Jones Albums. I finally found him playing live on a Montreux Jazz Album and the Tune Au Privave. I thought to myself I'm gonna play that tune someday. I can remember telling Toots that he was the reason that I was able to get into Temple University's College of Music's jazz program. He was such a presence in the Jazz world that they had to honor the instrument. This is my version of Au Privave inspired by Toots. ----------
I heard this tribute on NPR this afternoon. I am glad Toots did not follow the advice to chuck his toy an get a real instrument, however, we might still know of him as a great musician if he had.
Toots was an amazing musical force and I am so happy I got the chance to meet him, hang out and get some tips. He touched thousands and thousand of people and inspired many generations and one thing we can do is to continue to play, listen to his music and say Merci Toots!
I've always dug his chromatic playing as well as his whistling skills and his guitar playing skills and essentially, his guitar playing style was a cross between Al Casey and Django Reinhardt.
I always wished I had a tape recorder with me the time I got to see him in 1978 at Hopper's Cafe in NYC backed by former members of the Chuck Mangione Band and he did a version of John Coltrane's Giant Steps, which is a real bitch of a tune, doing the very first five choruses on chromatic harmonica, followed by five choruses on guitar and the final five whistling in unison with his guitar. That left me absolutely speechless with my jaw on the ground! If you've ever seen the old children's show Sesame Street, he's the one playing harmonica on it.
Here's my favorite recorded moment of Toots doing the classic Body And Soul with the George Shearing Quintet back in the 50's and his playing reminds me of a clarinet on drugs. Just totally blew me away the first time I ever heard this.
---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by barbequebob on Aug 23, 2016 10:22 AM
I am spending a couple weeks in the Fla. Keys with a retired New York Philharmonic Tuba player. He shared with me that he played a couple times with Toots. More than playing they would hang out afterwards at the local establishments. My friend doesn't talk a lot of those days, but I'm gonna try to get him to open a little. My friend as myself is a friend of Bill Wilson's. ---------- And I Thank You !! KCz Backwoodz Bluz
Toots was a great guitarist. That's what Benny Goodman hired him for.Supposedly,there is a recording of him on guitar with Django and Stephane. Have also heard he would practice "Giant Steps" in all 12 keys.(unsubstantiated)
A Young Toots would ride around London with John Dankworth (arranger/sax), sitting upstairs on a double decker bus, playing "Body and Soul" in all 12 keys. ---------- The Iceman
So today I questioned my friend, who played music a couple times with toots, for a story. He said a lot of the jazz musicians, including Toots, would hang out at a bar in midtown called Jim and Andy's. Jim and Andy would let the guys run a tab and also cash retribution checks that the guys didn't want their wives to know about. Mostly my friend said that because they hung out there quite often and stayed quite late, his memory isn't the best. Can't say you drank all day if you don't start in the morning. ---------- And I Thank You !! KCz Backwoodz Bluz
