Jean-Baptiste “Toots” Thielemans, “the Belgian-American musician who cut a singular path as a jazz harmonica player … began his professional career as a guitar player (and added the ability to whistle a line above it), but inspired by the mid-20th century innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, he returned to the chromatic harmonica and developed a bebop-influenced technique on it,” (NPR). “He performed and recorded widely with his bebop heroes and many other stars of postwar jazz, and his tune ‘Bluesette’ quickly became a jazz standard. His work also graces many film and television scores.”
Later in his career, “Thielemans became a first-call studio musician for top arrangers like Quincy Jones. His harmonica graced the theme song for Sesame Street and the score for the movie Midnight Cowboy. And that’s his whistling in the commercial jingle for Old Spice toiletries. Jazz remained his first love; even toward the end of his career, he would begin every morning with practice on the complex changes to John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps.’ … He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in the U.S., and a baron by the king of Belgium. He only retired from performing at the age of 92.” He passed away in 2016 at the age of 94.
His performance on “Undecided,” a 1939 standard by Charles Shavers, would have been remarkable for any other harmonica player — but it was utterly routine for Thielemans. His technique on the instrument broke through to entirely new levels of speed and agility. The groove drops out for a break just before the half-step modulation at 1:18. As if that weren’t enough, the second half of the video showcases Toots’ famous guitar-and-whistling skills!
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