[Harp-L] Toots Thielemans at 90-- new DVD issued



To:  Harp-l  and Musicians and Jazzfans list

From:  Norman Vickers, Jazz Society of Pensacola

 

By now many of you know that jazz harmonicist/guitarist/whistler Toots
Thielemans is celebrating his 90th birthday with concerts in the US and
Europe. Here is a review of new DVD which has just been released.  This,
from the Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune.

The writer of this article gives enough history so that persons not familiar
with Thielemans can have an overall appreciation of his career.

 

Personal note:  Jazz Society of Pensacola had him as guest artist in
1984-our second annual Jazzfest ( we're coming up on #30 in April 2013) It
was interesting in that  guitarist Chuck Wayne had appeared at our first
Pensacola JazzFest and he came back as well.

Chuck was first guitarist with George Shearing's Quintet.  Then Thielemans
was hired to replace him with the Shearing group, primarily as a guitarist.
As it evolved, Thielemans would have opportunity occasionally to perform on
chromatic harmonica.

 

My personal all-time Thielemans favorite is an album, initially released on
LP, with pianist Bill Evans.  It's named "Affinity."  Fortunately it's still
available as a CD.

 

There are numerous Thielemans performances recorded on You Tube.  Just
requires a quick search.

 


The Columbia Daily Tribune <http://www.columbiatribune.com/> 


Harmonica maestro celebrates '90 Yrs.'


By Jon Poses <http://www.columbiatribune.com/staff/jon-poses/> 

 <http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/nov/25/> Sunday, November 25,
2012

Advertisement

Along with skilled and imaginative improvisation, one of jazz's primary
yardsticks is creating one's own sound - one that is easily if not
immediately recognizable. It's safe to say that 90-year-old Toots
Thielemans, the influential chromatic harmonica player, fits that bill. 

During the course of the last seven decades, he has taken the instrument
further, technically speaking, than anyone else in the world; at his age, he
now has influenced not just one or two generations, but more like all three
that have followed. And, yes, he developed his own sound - one that is
identified almost instantaneously. If you know Thielemans' sound, you
recognize it with the first note or chord.

I first became aware of the "Toots Thielemans Sound" not from a jazz
recording but as an integral part of the 1969 "Midnight Cowboy" soundtrack.
He has contributed music to - dare I say it - scores of films, including
"The Getaway," "Jean de Florette" and "Fried Green Tomatoes." 

The Belgian counts among his early influences Louis Armstrong, Django
Reinhardt and Charlie Parker. He joined Benny Goodman's band in 1950, when
the bandleader was on a European tour; two years later, he immigrated to the
United States and worked with Parker and then as a member of the George
Shearing Quintet. Ironically, he gained a great deal of notoriety not from
playing the harmonica, but from simultaneously playing the guitar and
whistling on commercials; the most famous of his radio and TV spots is a
series of "Old Spice" productions. 

Along the way he performed in concert and/or recorded with a veritable who's
who of the day's jazz icons: Ella Fitzgerald, Quincy Jones, Stephane
Grappelli, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Dinah
Washington, Lena Horne, Shirley Horn and more. Later he would work with many
of the next generation of well-known artists - Jaco Pastorious, Pat Metheny
and Joe Lovano among them. His chromatic sound was so distinctive and so
elastic that even the pop world took notice and frequently requested his
services. He's heard on Lionel Richie's "Louder Than Words," Billy Joel's
"Greatest Hits, Vols. 1-2" and Paul Simon's "The Studio Recordings
1972-2000." 

As one might imagine, there have been an abundance of Thielemans releases
issued - hundreds, in fact - during the course of such an extensive and
varied career. We can now add "90 Yrs." (Challenge) - a CD/DVD entry - to
the ranks. The title is the result of Thielemans, born in April 1922,
hitting that milestone earlier this year. Working with what he calls his
European Quartet, the CD houses 11 selections; it's impossible to call such
a small sampling anything remotely close to "representative" of Thielemans'
vast output. That said, he does deliver a microcosm - and not surprisingly,
it's an eclectic program. 

Working with the familiar piano-bass-drums rhythm section, the session
includes a pair of Antonio Carlos Jobim's classics: "Wave" and "One Note
Samba"; there's a reading of Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way"; and an
intriguing rendition of Simon's "I Do It For Your Love." Also included here
is a trio of Thielemans originals from different periods: "Waltz For Sonny,"
"The Dragon" and the closing selection, "Old Friend." 

Thielemans also includes an interpretation of Armstrong's megahit "What a
Wonderful World." I would say this is my one disappointment on the CD; not
actually the delivery of the tune, but rather given the wealth of Satchmo
material out there - and given that he and Thielemans probably knew each
other for a half-century - it would have been nice to hear some other
slightly less pop-oriented Armstrong. 

Further, an alternate rendition appears on the companion DVD, subtitled
"Live Registrations 2011." On the DVD, Thielemans sits on a stool on stage
in a concert recorded in Tokyo. There is a nice impishness to his
presentation, one that contains a bit of self-deprecating humor sprinkled
throughout, shared in a relaxed way with the audience. The DVD gives us a
sense of who Thielemans is, both as a person and a musician. The reading of
the theme from "Midnight Cowboy" remains as moving today as ever and, in the
hands of his very capable rhythm section, comes off as a startling and
engaging ballad whose familiarity makes it thoroughly enjoyable. The DVD
selections also include Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas" and Thielemans' biggest
personal hit, his waltz-like "Bluesette," first released in 1962.

About the only downside of the DVD is that interspersed with live selections
in what appears to be a fine, distinguished hall sits intermittent snapshots
of the group's tour and daily life in Tokyo centered on people either on
their way to and/or around the performance, i.e. lobby shots. While not
extensive enough to be a major drawback, the cutaways - intended to enhance
a concert into a full-blown cinematic experience - do create an unnecessary
distraction. They fail to accomplish what they are intended to: give us the
sense of a larger-than-life happening. Fortunately, these shots don't
dominate the film's landscape. As a result, happily so, the DVD is still
worth viewing.

Tribune columnist Jon Poses also serves as the executive director of the "We
Always Swing" Jazz Series. He can be reached via email at
jazznbsbl@xxxxxxxxxxx

 




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