Toots jazz club to open in Brussels
The jazz club Toots, named after Belgian jazz legend Toots Thielemans, will open on 15 May close to Brussels’ Grand Place.
The club, in a historic building on Rue de Chapeliers, will mix Belgian and international jazz “in a typical Brussels atmosphere”, the management say.
Eight jazz concerts will be scheduled each week, alongside other events. Wednesdays and weekends after hours will be devoted to free jam sessions. Thursdays will showcase pre-1950s jazz and will welcome dancers.
On Fridays and Saturdays, two sets will showcase the best of Belgian and international jazz. Sunday afternoons will feature the Nostalgia In Grand Place concert series, offering local bands the opportunity to revisit specific repertoires, such as the compositions of certain musicians or iconic albums.
Opening night
The opening night programme will be unveiled on the club’s website on 29 April, the birthday of Toots Thielemans, who would have been 103 this year.
Born in 1922 in Brussels as Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor Thielemans, Toots was best known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and whistling skills. He was inspired by fellow Belgian jazz musician Django Reinhardt and was named a baron by King Albert II in 2001.
His final live performance was at Antwerp’s Jazz Middelheim festival in the summer of 2014. He died two years later, aged 94. A new station on metro line 3 in Brussels will be named in his honour.
Toots Thielemans at a solidarity concert in Brussels in 2009 © BELGA PHOTO ERIC VIDAL
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