BELGIUM ~ Toots Thielemans ~

... Today a lovely postcard showing Belgium's most renowned musical artist together with Dizzy Gillespie in Antibes, July 1990... Toots Thielemans is an icon in the world of music ♫♪♩♪♫... for several decades now his melancholic sounds have made an emotional impact on audiences all over the world... this Brussels native was an outstanding guitarist and one of the best harmonica players in the world (but never has learned to read music)... many international stars lined up to work with him... in 1961 he first recorded his well-known composition "Bluesette"🧡 now a musical "evergreen"...  he is one of the only musicians to have a successful career as a jazz harmonica player and eventually became the world’s preeminent jazz harmonica player.... this year he would have been 100 years... this brilliant artiste was honored  by Bpost with a great stamp issue and special postmark... Hééééél Erg Bedankt Johan!ヽ(*￣o￣*)ノ♩♫♪♫♪♩   

Photo: Dany Gignoux

Toots Thielemans was born in Brussels in 1922. As a child he listened to the music of Django Reinhardt & His Hot Club De France & Charlie Parker. In the early '50s Thielemans toured Europe with an all-star band under the leadership of Benny Goodman and shortly thereafter he decided to leave Belgium and try his luck in America (he acquired the American Nationality in 1952). 

Once in the 'promised land' he was discovered by the pianist George Shearing, who invited him to join his quintet in 1953. After six successful years with Shearing, Thielemans went on to found a couple of swing and bebop quartets under his own name.

From 1959 on he toured internationally with his small group along with intermittently recording in the studio. He recorded with singers and musicians including Ella Fitzgerald, David Sanborn, Quincy Jones, Bill Evans, Natalie Cole, Nick Cave, Franck Sinatra, Ray Charles and many others.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he continued touring and recording, appearing with musicians such Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Werner, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Elis Regina and Paquito D’Rivera.

In 2009, he was designated a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honour for a jazz musician in the USA.

Stamp:

The 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Toots Thielemans, 1922-2016 

(Issued 21-03-2022)