Category: Tributes

Tommy Reilly – A Life in Music – Vintage Tommy Reilly.

Archie

This is an extended version of the review that was published in the Aug/Sept 2019 issue of Harmonica World.

Cover from Tommy Reilly CD

Tommy Reilly – A Life in Music – Vintage Tommy Reilly.
Chandos CD20143 – CD Review by Cheng Jang Ming

Tommy Reilly is widely recognised as the master of the chromatic harmonica. He was born 100 years ago and he died 19 years ago. This collection of tracks was selected and lovingly assembled by his son David and Sigmund Groven. They have also written the extensive CD booklet covering his life and music. It is a great tribute to a unique virtuoso and giant of the chromatic harmonica.

Tommy learned violin and harmonica as a schoolboy in Canada. He started touring Europe at the age of 17, playing chromatic harmonica after his family returned to live in London. He was arrested in Leipzig in 1939 where he was studying violin and he was held in internment camps in Germany and Poland for the whole of the Second World War. The camps contained many other musicians and the imprisonment gave him the chance to practice and develop his approach to the harmonica. Being a violinist, he based his techniques on the playing of his idol, the violinist Jascha Heifetz. Tommy had access to food parcels from the Canadian Red Cross and he exchanged the coffee he received with a prison officer for Hohner harmonicas, a very precious instrument at that time. He managed to keep his violin all through the war, but it was stolen on the flight back to Britain at the end of the war in 1945.

Once he was back in London, he began to build a career playing harmonica in music halls and on the BBC.

The tracks range from his first recording, Deep Purple, made on his return to England in 1945, to his early 78rpms, and unreleased and commercial recordings made up to 1980. All the tracks have been carefully restored to bring them up modern standards.

There are tracks from Tommy’s many appearances on BBC Radio in the 1950s where he played classical music and standards. These led to 78rpm recordings on Parlophone where he was one of George Martin’s first artists. Together they employed new techniques such as echo and overdubbing on tracks like Bop! goes the Weasel and Dinah.

Tommy was a violinist in his youth and much of the inspiration for his harmonica playing came from studying Jascha Heifetz, I believe that although his instrument is harmonica, he still thinks like a violinist. You can hear his violinist style at play in his versions of Scarlatti’s Sonata, Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen, Rachmaninoff’s Serenade, and in David Reilly’s Age of Innocence.

In fact, Zigeunerweisen is for advanced violinists, and in recent three decades several harmonica players have performed it in its entirety. But no matter how well they manage it, it always sounds to me like a tremendous effort from them. It would surprise many people that way back in 1953, Tommy Reilly had already conquered this song, not with great effort but with ease. He did it not by playing the entire work, but by picking the relevant parts. His version, rendered with impeccable ease, rhythm and vigour, truly sounds as fluid as a violin version.

Tommy’s own arrangements of El Cumbanchero, Jealousy, Begin the Beguine, The Breeze and I, are full of playfulness and ingenuity. These songs, in their original form, are rather easy ones for harmonica. But after being arranged by Tommy, they become advanced pieces for harmonica while still keeping their original lyrical flavours.

I first heard Gigue played by Tommy in one of his early videos. This is from Bach’s “Partita No. 3 in E major BWV 1006” for unaccompanied violin, a rather unusual piece to play on harmonica. The partita contains 6 pieces, the most famous one for harmonica players is Gavotte en Rondeau, made famous on harmonica by both Tommy Reilly and Larry Adler. They have their own arrangements (both transposed to key of C major). This Gigue is played by Tommy in the key of G major instead of the original E major. It is a very nice study piece for harmonica.

Voice from the Past, this is the first time I have heard this orchestra version. I really love this arrangement for harmonica accompanied by strings and guitar. It brings to me a deep sense of nostalgia. I couldn’t help it, I listened to it over and over again several times, as I consider this to be one of Tommy’s best performances.

I have the opportunity to listen to many old recordings of Tommy and also all his published CDs and many LPs. I actually prefer his vibrato from his early years, more intense, more violin-like. And this CD again confirms my feeling, because all tracks are from 1970 or earlier, except the last two.

The Red Flame is an original composition by Tommy. This song, and Hora Staccato, showcase his unmistakable throat staccato, so incredibly fast and yet distinctly clean. How on earth can anyone play throat staccato in octave at such high speed? He invented the Silver Concert harmonica only in 1967; I wonder how he could play so fluidly using those old 270 Super Chromonicas in the 1950s and 1960s.

Many of these recordings have not been easy to find in the past and I was pleased to be able to hear some old favourite again. The 30 tracks on this CD cover all the music styles Tommy is known for – classical pieces, popular music, Irish music, pieces written for harmonica, his own composition and arrangements and musical novelties.

This retrospective look back at Tommy’s recordings is a great introduction for anyone who is unfamiliar with his work, as well as providing some great listening for lovers of music everywhere.

In the CD booklet, Sigmund Groven provides very comprehensive background details on all the songs in this collection. Tommy’s son, David, also recalls his vivid memories of his father playing his harmonica. You will never regret reading their writings!

At £9.99, it is a real bargain. The tracks are available for streaming and as a download from Chandos .

You can hear Tommy speaking and playing in these interviews by the BBC.

Here is a musical tribute to Tommy Reilly

Charlie Leighton’s 65th birthday party, June 24th, 1986

Archie

A humorous, musical tribute recording compiled by Tabby Andriello for Charlie Leighton’s 65th birthday party in 1986. It contains rare recordings from Charley’s illustrious career with the Philharmonicas, Cappy Barra and as a soloist. It was played at the party attended by Charley’s wife, Roseann, Tabby Andriello, Phil Solomon, Stan Harper, Charles Spranklin, Richard Gain, Don Smith …. and many others.

The Harmonicats 40th Anniversary Testimonial Concert 1981

Archie

It Was a Great Celebration . . . Thanks, Everyone? by Norm Dobson

This audio is taken from a cassette recording of most of the concert. Microphone placement and the age of the tape has affected the quality somewhat.

Edited from Harmonica Happenings, Spring 1981.

Well, the long awaited testimonial to the Jerry Murad Harmonicats is history. I can’t believe that back in September of 1979 when I first began to plan this event, that time would fly by so quickly. You have, I’m sure, by now heard from those who were here on there that the weekend was a complete success.

I personally am indebted to first of all, the harmonica, to SPAH and Harmonica Happenings. The harmonica, of course, has become or is the common denominator. Through SPAH and H-H. I got to know so many harmonica players across the country, and met the German Blizza Harmonica Gang and through them, met many other European players. I am especially grateful to Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats — they made it all happen.

Jerry Murad, Al Fiore, Dick Gardner, and Pete Pedersen played a selection of four tunes from their classical LP, “Harmonica Rhapsody” and several more of their hits.

The “New Harmonic Tramps” of Switzerland, Ruedi Frey on the lead, Walti Noethinger on chord, and Heinz Stampfi, on bass played on the Friday night but were not recorded on this tape. Then followed the Harmonica Brothers of West Germany. The sextet is made up of two active trios, the Blizza Harmonica Gang of Gladbeck, West Germany – Siegfried Brugier, Eugen Feltin, and Svegnar Kreitz – and the Picca Trio of Leichlingen, West Germany – Hans-Guenter Post, Adolf Nagel, and Ulrich Ott. They opened their show as a sextet playing a most impressive selection arranged by Leo Diamond entitled, “Japanese Sandman”. There then were three selections by the Picca Trio, followed by another selection by the Harmonica Brothers, and three tunes by the Blizza Harmonica Gang. It all ended with the sextet playing a Svegnar Kreitz arrangement of “Chancon d’amour.” Afterwards, the Germans presented the Harmonicats with three of the largest, ornate steins I’ve ever seen!

Among the notables in attendance were Leo Diamond. Time and space just won’t permit naming everyone. I was impressed with Joe Mass and his family of California, Al Smith , Earl Williams and Judy Simpson. Everyone was just great.

Then Jack totally surprised me with a document that left me speechless. The award read as follows:

PROCLAMATION – insofar as the honorable NORM DOBSON never seems to run out of breath in the service of The Harmonica & Harmonica Players everywhere, he is hereby declared the Official & Perpetual WORLD AMBASSADOR FOR HARMONICA. Presented April 25, 1981, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary Testimonial Dinner for Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats. M. Hohner, Inc. – Signed: Frank Hohner, Chariman, Lee James, President, Jack Kavoukian, Director of Marketing

There were five countries represented at the testimonial — Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Holland. Unmentioned previously, Cy Segeal, Canada; Gautam Choudhury and Piet Moerer, Holland; and our dedicated travellers from Sweden, Ulf and Jan Wahlberg.

My sincere thanks again to all for their support, and to the many who made the long trek to Danvers — especially to the Jerry Murad Harmonicats and their wives. My oh my, “Wasn’t That A Party?”

You can read a Tribute to Norm Dobson on this post.

Homage to Toots – Steven De bruyn

Archie

When I started to play the harmonica 27 years ago, Toots was big in Belgium. He did not only play on films and in concerts, but also on many local music shows and local television series. He was also the godfather of the great Jazz Middelheim Festival and played the national anthem before an International Soccer game.

When I attended a workshop by Toots I had the nerve to play him a tune. He said Cool man, let’s start the second part like that and to my disbelief we played this tune together, Toots on guitar and me on the harmonica in front of all these music students. Afterwards he give me a big hug. He was a lot of fun with his Brussels accent – a true ambassador for Belgium.

After his seventies Toots could no longer play the guitar well, due to a stroke, and only from then on he became a full time harmonica player. He constantly reinvented himself and in the last years of his public performances he really got to the essence of his playing. Very bluesy, very sparse and soulful. He made me cry and laugh at almost every concert I heard him.

Amazingly, the longer I play, the more I play the chromatic, and I realise how wonderful Toots was and will ever be as a human, as a musician and as a mentor.

Thank you Toots for your kindness, humour, passion and inspiration!

This appeared in the October 2016 issue of Harmonica World as part of a special tribute to Toots.

Toots’ Funeral – William Galison

Archie

On Saturday 27 August, I attended the funeral of my friend and mentor, the incomparable Toots Thielemans. I was on tour in France when I heard the news of Toots passing, and I knew I had to go to Belgium to pay my respects.
I drove with Belgian harmonica player, Steved De bruyn, to Toots home town, La Hulpe, a peaceful little town not far from Brussels. People lined the streets and pictures of Toots were displayed on a large video screen.
The Prime Minister and Prince of Belgium attended the service in the local church, which was full to its capacity of about 500 people.

Kenny Werner, Toots’ accompanist, played Bluesette beautifully as the pall bearers entered carrying the coffin, The pastor gave a moving eulogy about the breadth of Toots’ contributions to the world, as a musician and as a kind, generous and loving human being. Several friends spoke, including Kenny Werner who read out a personal message from President Obama.

After the funeral friends gathered at a nearby hotel to reminisce to the sounds of Toots’ Brazil Project albums. Even as I chatted with others, I was constantly distracted by the sheer mastery of Toots’ playing on this masterpiece recording. It brought home to me once again the significance of Toots’ musical legacy.

This appeared in the October 2016 issue of Harmonica World as part of a special tribute to Toots.

Toots and Jazz – Howard Levy

Archie

I was lucky to meet Toots and play with him on two occasions – once around 1980 at a club in Chicago, and then at the Harmonica Summit in 2000 in Minneapolis.

When we met in Chicago, I told him how I chose to play Jazz on diatonic because I loved the bluesiness of the instrument and wanted to play everything on it. I told him that I visualize the keyboard when I play diatonic harmonica. Toots told me that he did the same – he called it keyboard vision from starting music by playing the accordion. I felt a real kinship with him.

He invited me to play a tune in the second set – he had heard of me and I think that he was a little curious. I was very excited and a little nervous so I picked Autumn Leaves, the simplest Jazz tune I could think of. The audience liked my playing. He then played a fantastic version of Speak Low. His knowledge of harmony gave me something to aim for- not just as a harmonica player but as a musician.

In 2000 Toots shared many stories of his early days playing sessions in NYC. When musicians showed a lack of respect for the harmonica. he showed them a stub from a royalty check from Bluesette with him. I loved this story. It showed his fierce, determined side and his great sense of humour and irony.

Toots was a total original. He didn’t imitate other harmonica players. He was inspired by all the great Jazz musicians – guitarists, pianists, trumpeters, horn players etc. and he played with many of them including his explorations of Brazilian music with Elis Regina and Oscar Castro Nueves. He combined these high- level musical collaborations and his encyclopedic musical knowledge into a powerful and emotionally compelling style that appealed equally to casual listeners and the most advanced Jazz players.

Toots was truly beloved by the harmonica world. His personal warmth was genuine. His playing was inspiring and directly touched people’s hearts. He also endeared himself to millions of children by playing the Sesame Street theme song. Many other people enjoyed his playing on film music without ever knowing it was him.

And finally – Bluesette. This innocent, seeming little tune that he wrote around 1960 is actually a 24 bar blues, and he put the clue right there in the title. It took me about 20 years of playing it to realize that. It uses descending be-bop 2-5 progressions a la Charlie Parker, but goes several steps further than the convention of going down to the 4th, continuing down the whole tone scale all the way to the key of the b2 before the final turnaround. It’s also a European-sounding waltz – graceful, humorous, elegant, harmonically advanced and bluesy all at once.
Just like Toots.

This appeared in the October 2016 issue of Harmonica World as part of a special tribute to Toots.

Memories of an Old Friend: Toots – Rob Paparozzi

Archie

Toots came to the USA in the 50’s to join the Benny Goodman band and later George Shearing. John Lennon saw this LP cover in a shop in Hamburg, with Toots playing guitar, and decided if the Rickenbacker 325 was good enough for Toots he wanted it and hit the pawn shop on the corner!

He moved to the NY area in the 50’s to Yonkers, Montauk and NYC, In the 70’s I found his number in the AF of M Musician’s Directory and called him. He told me he had no time to teach but would be glad to talk and advise me by telephone and he never refused my calls and we chatted many times.

He said, “we were phone buddies, and was happy to answer my questions and gave me some invaluable practice tips which I will always treasure. In the 70’s he would tell me he was ready to retire from the NY studio scene as he really wanted to be more known as a jazz artist with his own Quartet. I would go see him live in NJ/NY at Ramapo College, Gulliver’s, The Blue Note and Greene St. in NYC.

Years later I went to see Toots at Carnegie Hall called The Magic of Toots with my friend Chris DePino and teacher Robert Bonfiglio. At the end of the show with tears & a big smile in his eyes Toots came up to us backstage and said Guys, I can die now, I played with Herbie Hancock at Carnegie Hall – we all laughed.

I asked him many questions, he loved talking about his work with Quincy Jones and Jaco. He said he met Paul Simon when Paul was a kid. Paul’s dad was the bassist on the old Arthur Godfrey show in NYC in the 50s & 60s!
When the Beatles came to do the Sullivan show in NYC, Rickenbacker Guitars asked Toots to go and demo their Guitar for them in a NYC Penthouse – John loves Toots!

Then only 4 years after John was shot dead in NYC, Toots played on his son Julian’s hit LP Valotte. Three years later in 1987 Julian came up to me in a NYC club and asked me if he could sit in with my band….We did Johnny B Goode!

Toots told me that Quincy wanted to do a record someday with Stevie Wonder and Toots as the featured artists!…Quincy got too busy and that never reached fruition.

These are just a few of my Toots memories, I guess I need to write that book.

Goodbye Toots and thank you so much for everything.

This appeared in the October 2016 issue of Harmonica World as part of a special tribute to Toots.

Toots & me – Antonio Serano

Archie

I first met Toots Thielemans when I was only 17 years old, in Seville, during the World Exposition of 1992. My father and I had travelled there to hear and meet the great Toots Thielemans! I was beginning to get interested in jazz so I was really excited! We arranged to meet in the lobby of his hotel for a coffee and chat with Toots before the concert. The moment arrived and suddenly I was there sitting beside the genius of jazz harmonica. I felt the luckiest boy on earth.

I´m not sure what the conversation was about but after 10 minutes Toots said something I will never forget. He looked at me and said: Hey boy! you must be kidding if you think I´m going to let you play with me on stage like Larry Adler did! Imagine how I felt. For one second I was devastated.

Then he continued: Let´s see, what scale would you play on a Dmin7(b5) chord? I answered wrong not only because I was nervous but also because, to be honest, I had no clue of what Dmin7(b5) meant. My knowledge of harmony at that point was only about I IV V progressions. He stoped me and said: You still have to study a lot if you want to come up on stage with me. From that day on I started to take the study of harmony and improvisation seriously and I understood that playing the harmonica very well wasn´t enough if I wanted to play jazz.

I will always thank Toots for being so honest with me on a critical point of my career.

The rest is history…

Thank you Toots!!

This appeared in the October 2016 issue of Harmonica World as part of a special tribute to Toots.

Remembering Toots – Adam Glasser

Archie

I don’t remember when I first heard Toots Thielemans. He has always been part of my harmonica life. I was amazed particularly by his virtuosity on the album Man Bites Harmonica especially the tracks Don’t Be that Way and Scotch on the Rocks. His album with Bill Evans, Affinity has always been a reference especially his solo on Sno Peas, all the more miraculous to my ears since I tried improvising on those very difficult chord changes.
In January 1996 he agreed to be interviewed before a gig in Leiden, Netherlands. We met at his hotel and I spent a fascinating couple of hours questioning him about the chromatic harmonica. The interview was published later that year in Harmonica World.

About a year later I received a call to do my first orchestral session ever, depping for Toots on the film Hard Rain. He could not make the first morning’s recording and I was asked to fill his shoes. It was a terrifying experience walking into the legendary CTS studio in Wembley with dozens of other musicians. The title music featuring harmonica was first up and not easy! When Toots arrived he greeted me with a very warm hug remembering our conversation a year earlier.

The producers were impressed by this camaraderie and I was asked to stay on for the whole week of recording as adviser to the composer Christopher Young. It was particularly extraordinary to hear Toots play something absolutely fantastic over very difficult shifting atonal harmony. Toots had to leave before the final days recording so I played the remaining few cues myself and I earned a harmonica credit below Toots at the end of the film.

The last time I saw him was at the 2010 Cape Town International Jazz Festival. We met and talked at length the night before his superb gig on 3rd April which I attended. The sadness I feel at his passing still sits in my heart as I write.

This appeared in the October 2016 issue of Harmonica World as part of a special tribute to Toots.

Toots Theilemans Tribute – The Archivist

Archie

Jean Toots Thielemans: 29 April 1922 to 22 August 2016

I can say without hesitation that Toots is one of the greatest musicians of our time. On his instrument he ranks with the best that jazz has ever produced. He goes for the heart and makes you cry. We have worked together more times than I can count and he always keeps me coming back for more. Quincy Jones

Toots was a transcendental musician – if he had picked up any other instrument he would have been just as great. What was remarkable was that he was able to express the full range of musical ideas through the chromatic harmonica. He was playing music through the harmonica rather than playing the harmonica. Howard Levy

I feel best in that little space between a smile and a tear. Toots

Toots was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1922. He started playing a cheap accordion when he was three, but he took up the harmonica at sixteen after seeing Larry Adler in a film and realising what a harmonica could do. During the Second World War he heard a 78 recording of Louis Armstrong and his destiny was sealed.

His friends told him to get a real instrument. He was studying mathematics but he decided to become a jazz musician. He got to hear the local bands like Django Reinhardt and bought a guitar. He taught himself to play and soon got a reputation as a jazz player and after the war he joined a local band, Le Jazz Hot, where he got his nickname, Toots. He learned harmony through the guitar, which stood him in good stead when he played harmonica. Toots sat in at some New York jazz clubs when he made his first visit to the US in 1947, and he played with Charlie Parker in Paris.

In 1950, Benny Goodman asked him to join in his European tour which began at the Palladium in London in 1950. Toots moved to New York in 1951 and soon landed the guitarist’s seat in the George Shearing Quartet. He stayed for 6 years playing mainly guitar with some harmonica. In between gigs he was sitting in with some of the top bebop musicians. Toots recorded his first American jazz LPs in 1955/7, and the chromatic harmonica would never be the same again.

In 1957 Toots became an American citizen and he would divide his time between his Long Island and Brussels houses for the rest of his life. Toots also developed the art of whistling when playing guitar, and the original recording of his most famous composition, Bluesette, was done this way in 1962.

In the 60s Toots became a session musician and he began to be in demand for film music, something which lasted for most of his life. Toots moved more toward jazz in the 70s with appearances with Oscar Peterson, Jaco Pastorius and his landmark recording, Affinity, with Bill Evans in 1978.

Toots sufferred a stroke in 1982 which resticted his guitar playing. He had always suffered from athsma and he began to play more ballads. This suited his new style which used fewer notes, with the emphasis on melody and playing the lyrics of songs. In the latter years of his life, Toots toured with his quartet, usually with Kenny Werner or Fred Hersch on piano. He liked Brazilian music and produced two enjoyable CDs, The Brazilian Project.

Toots used Herbie Hancock as a pianist before Herbie was picked up by Miles Davis. Herbie returned the favour by setting up the two NY concerts which were held for Toots in Carnegie Hall, The Magic of Toots (2006) and The Lincoln Center, Toots 90th Birthday (2012) Toots developed a special musical friendship with Quincy Jones and they recorded film soundtracks and performed in festivals together on many occasions.

Toots was in great demand to play with top singers like Paul Simon, Ella Fitzgerald, Natalie Cole, and Billy Joel. He was the harmonica soloist for many filmscores such as, Midnight Cowboy, The Getaway, Sugarland Express, Cinderella Liberty, Turks Fruit, and Jean de Florette. Toots was cutting back on the demands of touring in his 80s and he finally retired in 2013 aged 91.

Hohner produced two harmonicas for Toots, the Hard Bopper and the Mellow Tone. Both are 3 octave and they are only available in C. The King of Belgium honoured Toots with the title Baron.in 2001. There are many videos on YouTube for anyone wanting to hear Toots. Toots recorded many LPs and CDs and these are available from record shops and online stores. These include two which provide a selection of Toots’ output from the late 40s to the present time, such as the Verve Jazz Masters 59 -Toots Thielemans, and Yesterday & Today from Universal Music BV.

This appeared in the October 2016 issue of Harmonica World as part of a special tribute to Toots.

Here are some great links to concerts and interviews with Toots on National Public radio in NY.