Belgian jazz harmonica legend Toots Thielemans dies at 94

Toots Thielemans, the Belgian jazz harmonica virtuoso, died on August 22 at age 94. His manager Veerle van de Poel announced to a Belgian news agency that he passed away in his sleep, a month after being hospitalized due to a fall. Born Jean Baptiste Thielemans in Brussels in 1922, he learned guitar from Django Reinhardt recordings and harmonica from Louis Armstrong records during World War II. He adopted the nickname Toots for its swing feel. His career took off after traveling to the US in 1947 and 1950, leading to global fame with the soundtrack for John Schlesinger's 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. He collaborated with jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, and Bill Evans, Brazilian artists Gilberto Gil and Elis Regina, and international singer-songwriters Nick Cave, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, and Stevie Wonder. His 1962 composition Bluesette introduced the chromatic harmonica to jazz. He was popular in Italy in the 1970s, accompanying Mina on Non gioco più for the 1974 TV variety show Milleluci. The Hohner Toots harmonica model is named after him. He retired in 2014.