Another giant of jazz, harmonica player Toots Thielemans has passed away. He was 94 and died in his native Belgium.
Thielemans played accordion as a young boy and during the second world war became a confirmed jazz listener and player idolising Django Reinhardt and also influenced by Charlie Parker. His nickname “Toots” came from Toots Mondello and Toots Camarata (his real name was Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidore Thielemans). Toots played with Benny Goodman in the early 1950s and later George Shearing working in the States a good deal. He worked a good deal in films and his evocative solo on Midnight Cowboy stands out among this work and he also soloed on the TV theme of Sesame Street. He received many honours over the years and became a NEA Jazz Master in 2009.