Toots Thielemans - Only Trust Your Heart (Concord, 1988)

This post is by Dan

Toots Thielemans (hca); Fred Hersch (p); Marc Johnson (b); Harvie Swartz (b); Joey Baron (d)

Recorded April and May, 1988

If you only have room for one harmonica player in your jazz collection, make sure it's Toots Thielemans.  Born in Belgium in 1922, his career spanned seven decades. He died in 2016 after leading over 100 albums and appearing on hundreds more. Only Trust Your Heart was a mid-career triumph, recorded when he was 66 years old. He went on to perform and record until his retirement in 2014.

Pianist Fred Hersch produced the album and wrote the arrangements for the eight quartet pieces (Marc Johnson plays on two of the quartet selections and Harvie Swartz plays on the other six). There are also two impromptu duets by Thielemans and Hersch. Most of the material should be familiar and all are delivered with class and sophistication. 

Thielemans is a sublimely lyrical player with a marvelous tone. He's the primary soloist on the album, although Hersch contributes a few equally lyrical solos (and claims composer credits for two tunes). Joey Baron and the two bassists provide the unobtrusive support necessary to make the leader's artistry flow effortlessly.

There is a strong connection between Only Trust Your Heart and Bill Evans' Affinity album, recorded ten years earlier. Affinity is one of my favorite albums because it features Thielemans as well as Evans and was also Marc Johnson's debut recording. A lot of the positive vibe on that album reappears on Only Trust Your Heart, largely because Hersch grew up listening to Evans, like so many pianists of his generation.

I resist analyzing Only Trust Your Heart by dissecting it track by track. It should be enjoyed, not studied. Give it a listen.