Jazz harmonica great Toots Thielemans dies at 94 in Belgium.
Belgian harmonica player Toots Thielemans, whose illustrious career included playing with jazz greats like Miles Davis and whose solos have figured on numerous film scores, has died. Thielemans died in his sleep in a Belgian hospital on Monday, his manager said. He was 94.
Born in Brussels on April 29, 1922, Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidore Thielemans started playing the harmonica as a hobby and got "contaminated" by the jazz virus during the German occupation, according to his website.
His first international breakthrough came in 1950 when he joined Benny Goodman on a European concert tour. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1952, joining Charlie Parker's All Stars, and later played with Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel. His harmonica solos figure on many film scores, including Midnight Cowboy, The Getaway, and Sugarland Express, and also on the theme music to the children's TV series Sesame Street.
Thielemans, who also played guitar, was honored by Belgium's royal family in 2001, when King Albert II gave him the title of baron. The U.S. National Endowment for the Arts granted him the 2009 Jazz Master Award. Belgium's royal family said it was "deeply moved by (the) passing away of Toots Thielemans, one of the greatest jazzmen."
On the liner notes of one album, Quincy Jones said that "without hesitation that Toots is one of the greatest musicians of our time. On his instrument he ranks with the best that jazz has ever produced. He goes for the heart and makes you cry."
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