Have you heard that soul-touching harmonica in the theme music for films like The Getaway from 1972, Midnight Cowboy of 1969, and The Pawn Broker from earlier in 1964?
All of that brilliant work with Quincy Jones and his standard setting music for film. What about the iconic Sesame Street theme with the lilting harmonica that just makes you want to sweep clouds away and go where the air is sweet, that’s decades of that music for more than a few generations of children and the forever children in all of us. That signature sound is the sound of the harmonica of Toots Thielemans. That sound has been in all of our lives through so many different experiences in many different ways.
Thielemans’ artistry is the definition of selflessness in music. He is at once standing out and as immediately an inspired part of the communal heartbeat. That is just so much of the how life and being should be. Poetry, emotion, and wit are all equal paramounts of Thielemans’ sound.
Make them staples of life because they truly sweep the clouds away.