Toots Thielemans (mouth organ), Kenny Werner (piano), Oscar Castro-Neves (guitar)

Toots Thielemans may be almost 88 but he seems indestructible.

Toots Thielemans made the harmonica a fully-fledged solo instrument and he developed an expressive, catchy voice for it. Every year this achievement still earns him the award for best instrumentalist in the category ‘miscellaneous instruments’ as voted by both readers and critics of the leading American magazine Down Beat. Toots just keeps on performing and travelling, albeit in a slower tempo than before. Last year in October he went to pick up a prestigious award in ‘his’ city of New York: the National Endowment for the Arts to honour Jazz Masters.

Toots Thielemans is still heard all over through the soundtracks of television series like ‘Baantjer’ and ‘Witse’. His story has become a part of our national heritage. The kid from Brussels who conquered the world. Influenced by Larry Adler, he picked up the harmonica at the age of 17. A few years later he added the guitar, influenced this time by Django Reinhardt. The rest is history. In 1952 Toots ventured the crossing to the States, where he became famous and played with the greatest names in jazz music including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald. His life’s motto, ‘between a smile and a tear’ follows him wherever he goes.