On Thursday the 29th of April 2021, Belgium celebrated the 99th birthday of Toots Thielemans, exactly one year before his 100th birthday, which will not go unnoticed. In collaboration with the musician’s wife, Huguette Thielemans, the Private Foundation Toots Thielemans and visit.brussels, various activities will be organized in 2022 for the 100th anniversary of Toots Thielemans.
Toots Thielemans was the man who touched us all with his disarming personality and who gave to the world more than just musical beauty. He was the virtuoso musician who had been involved in all the main jazz styles of his time and who wrote masterful songs and soundtracks that have become a part of our collective memory. He was the “Marollien” and cosmopolitan who put Brussels and Belgium on the map.
My parents had a pub and each Sunday there was an accordionist
Toots Thielemans
On April 22nd of 2022, a temporary exhibition “Toots 100. The Sound of Toots Thielemans” will open at the Royal Library of Belgium ( KBR ) in collaboration with the Musical Instruments Museum ( MIM ). The aim of the exhibition is to make visitors of all ages discover the sound of Toots in an immersive and interactive way, based on the impressive collection of documents concerning Toots and held at KBR and the MIM. This unique collection contains sound recordings, pictures, drawings, letters, printed and manuscript scores, various objects and, last but not least, the personal instruments that Toots played throughout his life.
The last weekend of April 2022 will be entirely devoted to Toots’ 100th birthday, with a unique birthday concert at BOZAR on April 29th of 2022, featuring national and international guests and supported by a big band and an orchestra. The musicians will journey through the musical life of Toots and – in a world premiere – perform a suite specially composed and arranged for the occasion. More information about the concert and the start of ticket sales will follow at the end of May 2021. During this last weekend of April 2022 weekend, his birthday will be suitably celebrated at other locations in Brussels.
You can be in Tokyo or Alberta at four in the morning in your hotel and you can still practice if you feel like it
Toots Thielemans
This birthday weekend will mark the start for extensively celebrating Toots in the subsequent months in the city centre of Brussels as well as across the entire Brussels region, with various activities that will keep the memory of Toots. Brussels Jazz Weekend and Brosella Festival are just a few examples. Festivities around Toots’ 100th birthday will also be held throughout Belgium as well as internationally.
