We are very proud to announce the second live album that came out on April 27, 2012 with the European Quartet with:

Toots Thielemans – harmonica
Karel Boehlee - piano and keyboard
Hein van de Geyn – double bass
Hans van Oosterhout – drums

for Toots Thielemans his 90th Birthday
As a gift for all the Toots Thielemans fans, there are 6 live recordings on a bonus DVD – live recorded in 2011.

Recorded – edited and mixed by Chris Weeda
Pictures are from Jos L Knaepen – CD and bonus DVD came out on the Challenge Records International label.

The new album of Toots Thielemans European Quartet ’90 yrs’

- The vinyl version of the album
- A DVD: Between a smile and a tear – a wonderful documentary about Toots
- A hardcover book with a biographical section and special testimonies from musicians and beautiful photos and images from the private archive of Toots!

Toots Thielemans viert negentigste verjaardag met unieke concertreeks in België

2012 wordt het jaar van Toots Thielemans. Belgiës jazzmonument en levende legende wordt 90 in april. De organisatie TOOTS90, een samenwerking tussen evenementenbureau The Academy en het management van Toots Thielemans, wil die verjaardag met de gepaste luister vieren.

Speciaal voor zijn verjaardag zal Toots acht exclusieve verjaardagsconcerten geven op verschillende locaties in België.Niet alleen brengt hij zijn all time favoriete nummers met zijn intiem kwartet, de concerten worden ook in een uniek jasje gestoken.

Hieronder vindt u de data en plaatsen van deze exclusieve concertreeks.

Toots Thielemans fête son nonantième anniversaire avec une série de concerts uniques en Belgique

2012 est l’année Toots Thielemans. Monument belge et légende vivante du jazz, Toots aura 90 ans au mois d’avril. L’organisation TOOTS90, une collaboration entre la maison de production The Academy et le management de Toots Thielemans, veut fêter cet anniversaire avec l’éclat et lustre qu’il mérite.

Pour fêter son anniversaire, Toots donnera huit concerts anniversaire exclusifs en différentes salles en Belgique. Il jouera bien entendu ses numéros préférés avec son quatuor confidentiel, mais de plus, il donnera ses concerts dans une mise en scène tout à fait originale.

Vous trouverez ci-dessous les données et les localités relatives à cette série de concerts exclusifs.

Toots Thielemans celebrates his ninetieth birthday with a series of unique concerts in Belgium

2012 will be the year of Toots Thielemans. Belgium’s finest jazz musician and living legend turns 90. The organization TOOTS90, a collaboration between production company The Academy and the management of Toots Thielemans, wishes to celebrate this birthday with all the attention and splendor it deserves.

For this occasion, Toots will play eight exclusive birthday concerts on different locations in Belgium. Not only will he perform his top favorite songs with his trusted quartet, all the concerts will be given a unique atmosphere.

You can find more details for the dates and places for these exclusive concerts at the bottom of this page.

Info & tickets www.toots90.be

30 april 2012 – De Roma Antwerpen

1 mei 2012 – De Roma Antwerpen (club formule)

6 mei 2012 – De Bijloke Muziekcentrum Gent

9 mei 2012 – Paleis voor Schone Kunsten (BOZAR) in Brussel

10 mei 2012 – Cultuurcentrum Hasselt

11 mei 2012 – Concertgebouw Brugge

17 mei 2012 – Opéra Royal de Wallonie Liège

18 mei 2012 – Collegiate Cathedrale de Notre Dame Dinant

Toots and his European Quartet have just returned from a wonderful tour in Tokyo, Japan. At the last concert, we managed to film a special piece of music – The Dragon from the movie Japanese movie “Yasha”. Toots composed this theme especially for the movie and now, especially for his Japanese fans, performed it live. Please click the link below to watch this beautiful rendition.

Toots Thielemans performing The Dragon

Toots played with Kenny Werner, Oscar Castro-Neves and Airto Moreira on the opening night at the Jazz Middelheim Festival 2011. It was a very special concert with a Brazilian feeling. Read the article in Het Nieuwsblad

Pictures taken during the rehearsal. Jos L Knaepen

Toots Thielemans received from the Jazz Journalists Association the Jazz Award 2011 for player of the Year – Instrument Rare in Jazz

Click image to read the letter.

The New York City Jazz Records

Toots and Kenny Werner having fun on stage after a beautiful concert at the Dinant Jazz Nights on July, 16th.

Photo: Dirk Stockmans

Gala Concert – The Foundation for Alzheimer Research
September 18, 2011 – Groot -Bijgaarden

Out of sympathy for the Foundation for Alzheimer Research and the invaluable work that they accomplish, Mr. Toots Thielemans decided some years ago to become the ‘godfather’ of this foundation.
Such initiatives, by which money is raised for fundamental research, are very close to his heart. Due to the aging of the population and the associated increase in dementia, Alzheimer is becoming a global problem. The Foundation for Alzheimer Research tries to raise as much as possible funds so that they can give the scientists the opportunity to continue their research.
Since 1998 the Foundation for Alzheimer Research was able to finance 65 important projects of research and this for an amount exceeding 4.100.000 EUR.
Toots Thielemans is very pleased that he, being the ‘godfather’ of the foundation, can draw the attention to this important work and thus can contribute a little help so that the research on Alzheimer disease may continue unabated.​
For more information : http://alzh.org​

Dr. Christine Van Broeckhoven (Ph.D., D.Sc. Scientific Director of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Antwerp, Belgium and chair of the Scientific Advisory Broad of the Foundation) together with Toots Thielemans

On June 22, 2011, the “Toots Thielemansstraat” in Vorst-Forest ( Brussels ) was officially inaugurated in the presence of the Minister of the Governement of the Metropolitan District of Brussels and of the French-speaking community: Evelyne Huytenbroeck.