| TOOTS THIELEMANS | ||
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TOOTS THIELEMANS is the greatest living virtuoso (and perennial winner of Downbeat’s Readers and Critics Polls alike) on his "Miscellaneous Instrument", the harmonica. Toots was named a 2009 American Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, and his moving rendition of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World, stole the show at the Awards ceremony at Lincoln Center in October 2008. With a career that goes back to World War II, Toots has played with everyone from Benny Goodman and Charlie Parker, to Paul Simon and Jaco Pastorius. At his 80th Birthday week in 2002 at the Blue Note in NYC, Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder stopped by to sit in, not surprising, since Toots is revered by musical giants both young and old.
Everyone has heard Toots, if not live or on record, then on the soundtrack of such movies as Midnight Cowboy, or playing the Sesame Street Theme, or whistling on that famous Old Spice commercial. Millions saw him on a Today Show feature in spring 2005, and 2,700 more saw him in person at The Magic of Toots, a sold-out Carnegie Hall tribute in March 2006. No less an authority than Quincy Jones says of Toots, "he ranks with the best that jazz has ever produced." For a very entertaining overview of his amazing career check out the feature article on Toots in the August 2006 Downbeat.
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| Phone 434-979-6374 Fax 434-979-6179 | ||
| 1006 Ashby Place; Charlottesville, VA 22901 USA | ||
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