Achille Joseph Baquet was an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 clarinetist and saxophonist. He was an early musician on the New Orleans jazz

New Orleans Jazz

New Orleans Jazz may refer to:*Dixieland, a style of jazz music*New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park*Utah Jazz, a professional National Basketball Association franchise that was previously based in New Orleans and known as the New Orleans Jazz, in recognition of the jazz music of New Orleans*A...

 scene.

Achille Baquet was raised in a musical family; his father, Theogene Baquet, led the Excelsior Brass Band

Excelsior Brass Band

The Excelsior Brass Band was a brass band from New Orleans. It was one of the earliest recognized brass bands on the New Orleans jazz scene.The Excelsior was founded in 1879 by Théogène Baquet, who led it until 1904; following this it was led by George Moret and then Peter Bocage, who led it from...

, and his brothers, Harold and George

George Baquet

George Baquet was an American jazz clarinetist, known for his contributions to early jazz in New Orleans.His father, Theogene Baquet, was also a clarinetist, as were his brothers, Achille and Harold...

, were both musicians, George being the most famous of the three. Achille was black

Black people

The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

, but was light-skin

Human skin

The human skin is the outer covering of the body. In humans, it is the largest organ of the integumentary system. The skin has multiple layers of ectodermal tissue and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs. Human skin is similar to that of most other mammals,...

ned, and was the only member of the family who was able to pass

Passing (racial identity)

Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one racial group attempting to be accepted as a member of a different racial group...

 for white

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

. He learned clarinet from Luis Tio, and played with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Papa Jack Laine

Papa Jack Laine

George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine was a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish-American War to World War I....

's Reliance Brass Band, and the Happy Schilling Dance Orchestra. He was thought to have been a member of the Whiteway Jazz Band, but the membership of this ensemble has never been established definitively.

Baquet's credits as a composer include "Why Cry Blues", written with Jimmy Durante

Jimmy Durante

James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...

. He is also thought to have co-written "Livery Stable Blues

Livery Stable Blues

"Livery Stable Blues" is a 1917 jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez and Alcide Nunez. It was famously recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on 26 February 1917 and, with the flip side "Dixie Jass Band One-Step" , became the first jazz recording ever released...

" with Yellow Nunez.