Toots Thielemans plays harmonica on Billy Joel’s “Leave a Tender Moment Alone.”
The song appeared on Joel’s 1983 album An Innocent Man and was released as its fifth single in 1984. Thielemans, the celebrated Belgian jazz musician, contributes harmonica to the recording, adding a distinctive warm and lyrical color to the tender, country-tinged ballad.
Thielemans was especially associated with the chromatic harmonica, an instrument he helped establish as a serious voice in jazz. He was also an accomplished guitarist and whistler, but his harmonica playing is the featured contribution on this Billy Joel track. The song’s later music video highlights his role and presents Joel describing a trip to Paris to recruit him.
“Leave a Tender Moment Alone” reached No. 27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, but it performed much better on the Adult Contemporary chart, where it spent two weeks at No. 1. Thielemans also worked with artists including Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Simon, and Jaco Pastorius during a career spanning several decades.