Jazz harmonica great Toots Thielemans dies at 94 in Belgium

FILE - In this May 6, 2014 file photo, Belgium's King Philippe speaks with Belgian jazz musician and harmonica player Toots Thielemans, left, at the Royal Palace in Laeken near Brussels. Belgian media reported on Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, that legendary jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans has died at the age of 94. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe, File) FILE - In this May 6, 2014 file photo, Belgium's King Philippe speaks with Belgian jazz musician and harmonica player Toots Thielemans, left, at the Royal Palace in Laeken near Brussels. Belgian media reported on Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, that legendary jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans has died at the age of 94. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe, File)

By Associated Press August 22, 2016 3 min read

BRUSSELS (AP) – Belgian harmonica player Toots Thielemans, whose illustrious career included playing with jazz greats like Miles Davis and whose solos have figured on numerous film scores, has died. He was 94.

Thielemans died in his sleep in a Belgian hospital on Monday, his manager said. He was hospitalized last month after a fall, but had been in good spirits after an operation on his shoulder.

“He was so happy. He was doing well,” manager Veerle Van de Poel said.

“We were very surprised” by his passing, she said. “He was sleeping, and he did not wake this morning.”

Born in Brussels on April 29, in 1922, Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidore Thielemans started playing the harmonica as a hobby and got “contaminated” by the jazz virus during the German occupation, according to his website.