A jazz standard by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette," where he used whistling and guitar in unison. He worked both as a bandleader and as a sideman, including many projects with composer/arranger Quincy Jones. He performed on many film soundtracks, such as Midnight Cowboy, Cinderella Liberty, Jean de Florette, The Sugarland Express, The Yakuza, Turkish Delight, the 1972 version of The Getaway, French Kiss, Dunderklumpen!, and in various television programs, including Sesame Street, whose closing credits (which did not list him accordingly) featured his performance, on harmonica, of the show's theme, the Belgian television series Witse, and in the Netherlands, for the Baantjer series.
Thielemans started his career as a guitar player. In 1949 he joined a jam session in Paris with Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach and others. In 1951 he went on tour with Bobbejaan Schoepen.
He moved to the United States in 1952 where he was a member of Charlie Parker's All-Stars. He played and recorded with names like Ella Fitzgerald, The George Shearing Quintet, Quincy Jones, Bill Evans, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Astrud Gilberto, Elis Regina and others.
A jazz standard by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette" where he used whistling and guitar in unison. Bluesette became a major 1962 world-wide hit for him and this still much beloved and requested piece has been re-recorded by him and commercially released on records/CDs many times over both in various studio versions and live on-stage performances performed in several different countries. His trademark harmonica playing can also be heard in movie scores such as Breakfast at Tiffany's (where his plaintive "Moon River" solo in the opening scene brilliantly establishes the film's mood of romance noir), Midnight Cowboy, Bagdad Café, French Kiss, and in various TV programs like Sesame Street, the Belgian TV series Witse and the Dutch TV series Baantjer. His professional whistling and harmonica playing can be heard on Old Spice radio and TV commercials that have been made over the years. In 1983 he contributed to Billy Joel's album An Innocent Man, and his trademark harmonica can be heard on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone."
In the 90s Thielemans embarked on theme projects that included world music. In 1998 he released the a French flavoured album titled "Chez Toots" that included the Les Moulins De Mon Coeur (The Windmills of My Heart) featuring guest singer Johnny Mathis. This CD continues to sell well.
Today Jean "Toots" Thielemans remains a strong favorite among jazz aficionados and professional critics alike. His music CDs continue to delight (many of which were recorded in the 2000s) and have introduced him to entire new generations of keen fans.
Apart from his popularity as an accomplished musician, he is well liked for his modesty and kind demeanor. In his native Belgium, he is also popular for describing himself as a Brussels "ket", which means "street kid" in old Brussels slang. He received a joint honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and in 2001 Thielemans was ennobled a baron by King Albert II of Belgium.
In 2005 he was nominated for the title of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). In the Flemish version he ended 20th place, in the Walloon version he ended 44th place.
Thielemans may have had a significant impact on The Beatles, (John Lennon in particular), during the group's pre-fame formative years. When performing in a 1959 Hamburg Germany with the pre-fame Beatles, John Lennon (sometimes with fellow Beatle George Harrison in tow) would often go over to the club where Toots was performing (at a noontime venue) as a member of The George Shearing Quintet. Lennon evidently was taken with Toot's harmonica playing and also for the guitar Toots was playing, an electric American made Rickenbacker with a short play neck. Based on the sound Lennon heard, he decided to purchase a natural alder wood "alderglo" colored three pickup Rickenbacker 1958 model 325 Capri guitar with a short scale as former Beatle and friend, George Harrison would recall to various interviewers many years later. (This iconic famous guitar often fondly referred to as the "Holy Grail" of all guitars, which was customized and tinkered with many times over the years by Lennon including being re-painted to jetglo black in September 1962, is the very same guitar that he played on The Beatles first and third appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show during February 1964).
Toots Thielemans died peacefully in his sleep on August 22, 2016 after being hospitalized for a fall a month earlier.
Shadow
Toots Thielemans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you have gone
Will color all my dreams
And light the dawn
Look into my eyes my love and see
All the lovely things you are to me
It was far, too high
A teardrop kissed your lips
And so did I
Now when I remember spring
All the joys that love can bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of your smile
The Shadow of Your Smile is a song about reminiscing on a love that is gone but not forgotten. The lyrics express the idea that the memory of this love will continue to color and influence one's dreams even after they have moved on. The song opens with the line "The shadow of your smile when you have gone will color all my dreams and light the dawn", which sets the nostalgic tone for the rest of the piece.
The second verse moves into a more personal expression of the love that the singer feels for their lost love. "Look into my eyes my love and see all the lovely things you are to me" is a testament to the depth of the connection that the singer had with their loved one.
The final verse brings the song full circle, returning to the idea of the shadow of the smile as a lasting memory. "Now when I remember spring, all the joys that love can bring, I will be remembering the shadow of your smile" encapsulates the feelings of nostalgia and longing that run throughout the song.
Overall, The Shadow of Your Smile is a poignant and reflective song that captures the bittersweet nature of lost love and memory.
Line by Line Meaning
The shadow of your smile
The memory of your smile lingers on with me
When you have gone
When you are no longer with me
Will color all my dreams
Will fill my imagination with your presence
And light the dawn
And bring light to my darkest moments
Look into my eyes my love and see
Look deep into my eyes and understand
All the lovely things you are to me
How much I adore you and all that you represent to me
Our wistful little star
Our shared memories of a distant, small part of the universe
It was far, too high
It was beyond our reach and out of our grasp
A teardrop kissed your lips
We shared a moment of poignant sadness and emotion
And so did I
I too experienced the same feelings you did
Now when I remember spring
When I think back to happier times
All the joys that love can bring
All the positive emotions and experiences that come with love
I will be remembering
I will always recall
The shadow of your smile
The lasting memory of your smile that warms my heart
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, TuneCore Inc., BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Johnny Mandel, Paul Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Marian Chacon
DEFINITELY ONE OF MY
FAV. SONGS. ONE OF
THE MOST LOVELIEST +
ROMANTIC SONGS EVER WRITTEN!!!
I AM CAPTIVATED BY EACH NOTE PLAYED
BY TOOTS THIELMAN: ON HARMONIC.
" THE SHADOW OF YOUR
SMILE"
HEAVENLY!!!!! EXQUISITE!!! TIMELESS!!!
I AM COMPLETELY MESMERIZED!!!
TQ FOR A MOST LOVELY RENDITION THAT EVOKES
LOVELY MEMORIES OF
GROWING UP IN 1960'S.
Lawrence Grinter
Listening again to this incredible performance brings such emotions as to be practically unbearable God bless you Toots !
Bruce Kuehn
April 29, 1922 - August 22, 2016
Celebrating now the 100th anniversary of his birth. A truly unique musician!
Gordon Hall
This is heaven. The way it makes me feel is complete and somehow still aching for more for knowing what it was.
charles stenger
This performance put tears in my eyes. I didn't know that there existed a verse with this song. The full sound of the strings against the mouth organ is heaven
SvendBosanvovski
Surely, one of Toot's greatest performances. The harmonica is a vocal instrument and more closely matches the human voice than any other. You can appreciate that from its construction, with an assemblage of reeds that respond to the pressure of the human breath. And here, the greatest virtuoso on the instrument demonstrates that with his beautiful control and tasteful ornamentation. In this short recording he employs every technique available, articulating notes with effortless fluency and joining the verses with improvised flourishes that would make Charlie Parker smile. Its astonishing how he can perfectly modulate the pitch by altering the pressure in his throat. And all of that distilled over 70 years of playing to bring him to this moment...
rafael estrada maldonado
Increíble el tener la oportunidad de escuchar a este artista y sus melodías en armónica:
Jazz Time
His ballads...can bring tears in my eyes..so beautiful
E R
Toots was the most ethereal musician yo ever touch a harmonica. Blessed to have seen him perform live once.
Dave Kass
Toots was truly one of the most great harp players..who inspired so many harp players all over the world..i was lucky to meet him in a session in Eilat..A wonderful person who inspired all of us harp players.. G-D bless him! DAVE
Kevin Dorsey
Absolutely 100% correct.