Marc Chemillier, Shlomo Dubnov, Ke Chen, Mikhail Malt, Gérard Assayag. A posthumous improvisation by Toots Thielemans. Toots Thielemans (1922-2016). A Century of Music across Europe and America, Royal Library of Belgium, Bruxelles., 2023.
Abstract: In jazz, the presence of the musician is of such central importance that the recordings considered to be the best were ofen live recordings, preferably made in small intmateclubs. The evoluton of live performance technologies tends to blur this noton, frst with the gigantsm of concerts, and more recently, with the appearance of simulacra in rap and pop music in the form of holograms (Tupac), virtual stars (Hatsune Miku), video game avatars (Travis Scot), and the most recent example based on voice synthesis (Drake and The Weeknd). Toots Thielemans was one of those jazzmen whose presence lef an indelible mark on a concert or a recording session, so strong was his musical personality and his harmonica playing immediately recognizable. We propose here to try an experiment consistng in creating a musical avatar of Toots Thielemans.
