Jazz-harmonica legend gives ESM concert

Thielemans Photo by Dirk Hermans

Thielemans will perform with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Fred Sturm, professor and director of jazz studies and contemporary media, and with the New Jazz Ensemble conducted by Jim Doser, part-time instructor of conducting and ensembles. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. in the Eastman Theatre and is free to University ID holders. It will feature music arranged or composed by Maria Schneider '85E (Mas), including her arrangement of Thielemans's best-known composition, Bluesette. Blues for Toots, a new work by Eastman graduate student Keith McAliley, will open the concert. Pieces by George Gershwin, Henry Mancini, Alex North, and John Coltrane round out the program.

Born in Belgium, Thielemans took up the harmonica as a teenager after seeing American virtuoso Larry Adler in a movie. His interest in jazz developed during World War II. By 1944, he was playing guitar in American GI hangouts in liberated Brussels, often alternating with Edith Piaf and Stephane Grappelli. Among his early influences were Django Reinhardt and Charlie Parker, and his now-famous nickname came from Toots Mondello, a saxophonist with Benny Goodman.

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