A reference to the great Belgian jazz musician Toots Thielemans as a "puccaloist" sent me clicking on the search engines and thumbing through some old paper dictionaries.
The word describes someone with a rare skill, that of "puccalo".
Even the website claiming to be "The Web's Largest Resource for Definitions & Translations" listed only two sources defining this three-syllable, seven-letter word.
The mainstream dictionaries such as the Oxford and Macquarie were absent.
"It refers to a level of skill and talent in human whistling which produces notes and tones that are so clear and precise, they remind the listener of someone playing a wind instrument," says one quoted source, Freebase.
Ah, that fits. Thielemans was known for his skills on guitar, chromatic harmonica and pursed lips, and referred to in my musical circles as a "jazz whistler".
I first heard him whistle, basically in unison with his guitar soloing, on a Quincy Jones record in the early 1970s.
The recording was his signature tune, the jazz waltz Bluesette.
Thielemans created a tune that could be bottled and sold as medicine for the heart and soul.
Elderly people of European heritage seem to relate strongly to the spirit of the lively melody.
However, Music for Seniors audiences, including those in dementia-unit lounge rooms, often applaud my instrumental arrangement more enthusiastically than better-known songs.
This reaction seems to conflict with a common belief that the best musical medicine for dementia sufferers comes from the best-known songs and lyrics.
Undoubtedly, there is great joy in seeing lips move and hearing vocalisations from those who may be unable to remember other things about their lives.
There is, however, much more going on, as Bluesette shows - without words and, I must note, without the whistling. I have to leave that to the puccaloist who performed Bluesette in 1969 as a duet with the Brazilian singer Elis Regina. :)
Sources consulted for this article:
https://www.definitions.net/definition/puccalo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtGMDmjk6EA
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