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Belgian jazz harmonica master Toots Thielemans and veteran pianist Kenny Werner will perform in concert 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the Williams Center for the Arts.
Tickets for the concert cost $4 with Lafayette ID and $20 for the public. They may be purchased by calling the box office at 610-330-5009.
Werner will give a pre-concert lecture on his 1997 book, Effortless Mastery, which has changed many musicians’ conceptions about how to practice, play, and listen. The talk is presented under the auspices of the Ed Brunswick Jazz Fund.
Thielemans’ legendary performances, defined by suave originality and elegance of phrase, have enchanted generations of music fans throughout the world. Werner brings his own qualities of sophistication, eloquence, and style to the mix. “Regardless of what you call this music, it speaks of beauty, refinement and perfect taste,” declares JazzTimes in a review of their 2002 self-titled album.
“I can say without hesitation that Toots is one of the greatest musicians of our time,” notes famous composer, musician, and producer Quincy Jones. “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.”
“Favoring the chromatic harmonica, which allows access to sharps and flats with the push of a button, Thielemans still plays melodies with graceful fluidity, not unlike the swing- and bop-era saxophonists he clearly admires,” states The Washington Post.
Thielemans played the accordian at age three and picked up harmonica as a hobby. Nicknamed “Toots” after musicians Toots Mondello and Toots Camarata, he earned his first international break by joining Benny Goodman on a European concert tour in 1950. His early jobs in the U.S. included performing as a member of Charlie Parker’s All Stars in Philadelphia and theGeorge Shearing Quintet. Composed in 1962, his best-known tune, “Bluesette,” which featured his groundbreaking combination of guitar and whistling, has been included on more than 100 recordings.
In addition to composing and performing the theme for the “Sesame Street” television program, Thielemans has been a harmonica soloist for the film scores of Midnight Cowboy, The Getaway, Sugarland Express, and others. He has performed in concert and/or recorded with many music giants, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Jaco Pastorius, Natalie Cole, Pat Metheny, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel. He is a repeated winner of the Down Beat and JazzTimes polls for “miscellaneous instruments.” He has twice been honored on commemorative postage stamps in Belgium.
Werner attended Manhattan School of Music before transferring to Berklee School of Music in 1970. He recorded an LP in 1977 and soon after, he recorded with the great Charles Mingus on Something Like a Bird. Since then, he has released a number of other recordings and toured in Europe and the United States, including solo concerts, stints with Archie Shepp and the Mel Lewis Orchestra (now Vanguard Jazz Orchestra); duos with such notables as Rufus Reid, Ray Drummond, and Jaki Byard; a long-standing trio with bassist Ratzo Harris and drummer Tom Rainey; and a quintet with Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, and Eddie Gomez. He has performed with many other jazz greats, including Sonny Fortune, Peter Erskine, Bobby McFerrin, Tom Harrell, John Scofield, Dave Holland, and Charlie Haden.
Werner received performance grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1985, 1987, 1993, and 1995. He has written compositions for a number of jazz groups, including a memorial piece he conducted in Duke Ellington’s honor at St. John of the Divine Church in New York. A former member of the jazz department of the New School in New York City, Werner has given clinics at many universities in the United States and abroad. He has served as artist-in-residence at New York University and artistic director for the Banff Center Jazz Program.
The nationally recognized Performance Series attracts more than 10,000 people each season. It has been cited for performing excellence by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Dance Project, Chamber Music America, Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, Pennsylvania Arts and Humanities Councils, and Association of Performing Arts Presenters.
The 2003-04 Performance Series at Lafayette is supported in part by gifts from Friends of the Williams Center for the Arts; by the F.M. Kirby Foundation; by provisions of the Alan and Wendy Pesky Artist-in-Residence Program, the James Bradley Fund, and the Ed Brunswick Jazz Fund; and by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, and New England Foundation for the Arts.