Bluesette – Toots Thielemans

Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor Baron Thielemans, known professionally as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian-American jazz musician. He was known for his harmonica playing, as well as his guitar, whistling skills, and composing.  Possibly his most important contribution was in championing the ‘humble’ harmonica and making it into a legitimate voice in jazz.  His own composition, “Bluesette”, which Toots typically performs on harmonica or while playing the guitar and whistling in unison, has now become a jazz standard.  He said, “If there’s a piece of music that describes me, it’s that song.”  This rendition was recorded in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2009.