That little space between a smile and a tear…

A career of over 70 years of which some 50 years recognised all over the world as the best in your trade. Not many people can claim such a feat. Probably only one: Toots Thielemans! Today he announced his retirement at the age of 91…

Respect is the first word that comes to mind when I read this earlier today. “Living between a smile and a tear” immediately followed… His slogan and it describes him so well. This nice cool grandpa who outgrew his Brussels and Belgium, becoming a true citizen of the world, without loosing sight of his roots…

He embodies “Do what you love and love what you do”. Rather then rambling on about the greatest musician Belgium ever produced let me introduce you to some YouTube gems (hoping they stay online) :

Toots & Paul Simon (1975):

Toots & Billy Joel:

Toots & Jaco Pastorius (9 minutes of legendary jazz):

Toots & Peggy Lee makin’ whoopee… almost 50 years ago:

Toots & Trijntje Oosterhuis (What a wonderful world…at the age of 90):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb-DHmadR2k

Toots & Quincy Jones (magicians coming together):

Toots doing Brel:

And I could go on forever…