Fujitsu Jazz Festival Honors Thielemans

  I  

The Fujitsu Jazz Festival will honor Jean Toots Thielemans at a special concert event at Carnegie Hall on March 16. “The Magic of Toots” will feature the music of Toots, the man who Quincy Jones calls “one of the greatest musicians of our time on his instrument,” as well as performances by Herbie Hancock, Ivan Lins, Eliane Elias, Paquito D’Rivera, Oscar Castro-Neves, Joe Lovano, and other surprise guests.

The concert, sponsored by Fujitsu Limited and produced by Pat Philips and Ettore Stratta, will be under the musical direction of Kenny Werner, Toots long-time duo partner.

The event will celebrate the extensive career of the still internationally touring 83-year-old harmonica player. Toots has played alongside the likes of George Shearing, Ella Fitzgerald, Quincy Jones, Bill Evans, Benny Goodman, Jaco Pastorius, Natalie Cole, Pat Metheny, Charlie Parker, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, and Gilberto Gil, among many others.

Tickets are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office and range in price from $18 to $66. The number for the box office is 212-247-7800, or tickets can be purchased online at carnegiehall.org.



  • Courtesy_of_the_Ulmer_family.jpg

    To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.

  • Rodney_Holmes_Courtesy_Meinl.jpg

    A drummer’s drummer, Rodney Holmes gigged with everyone from Joe Zawinul and Carlos Santana to Steve Kimock and the Brecker Brothers.

  • DB26_Critics_Poll_Montage.jpg

    Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.

  • Abdhullah_Ibrahim_Detroit_Jazz_Festival_2022_by_Michael_Jackson.jpg

    Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”

  • DB26_Joe_Lovano_by_Michael_Jackson.jpg

    Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet will record live at New York’s Village Vanguard for ECM records on Aug. 26–27.


On Sale Now
August 2026
74th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad