Alphonse Picou
Encyclopedia
Alphonse Floristan Picou (October 19, 1878 – February 4, 1961) was an important very early jazz
clarinetist who also wrote and arranged music.
Alphonse Picou was born in a prosperous middle class Creole of Color family in downtown New Orleans. He was working as a professional musician by age 16 on both guitar
and clarinet
, but then concentrated on the later instrument. As his family frowned on music being a person's sole trade, Picou trained and worked as a tin
smith, including putting the copper
sheeting on church steeple
s; however soon Picou was so much in demand as a clarinetist that he made most of his living from music. He played classical music with the Creole section's Lyre Club Symphony Orchestra. He also played with various dance bands and brass bands, including those of Bouboul Fortunea Augustat, Bouboul Valentin, Oscar DuConge, Manuel Perez
, Freddie Keppard
, Bunk Johnson
, the Excelsior Brass Band
, the Olympia Brass Band
and others. The light skinned Picou sometimes worked with white bands as well in his youth, including at least on occasion Papa Jack Laine
. (This opportunity was not available to musicians with darker skin due to racial discrimination in the U.S. Southern States at the time.)
Picou was one of the early musicians playing in the new style that was developing in the city, not yet known as "jazz". He sometimes played in the band of perhaps the most important force in the musical change, Buddy Bolden
.
Many younger clarinetists cited Picou as an important influence, including Johnny Dodds
and Jimmy Noone. Picou's style (those who knew him for many years said that his style when he recorded was little changed from how he played early in the 20th century) is lilting with a gentle raggy
feel with subtle variations that are usually more melodic embellishments than what would later be called improvisation
. His style struck many who heard Picou late in his career as either "not quite jazz" or "just barely jazz".
Picou is perhaps best known for originating the clarinet part on the standard "High Society
". Some have mistakenly stated that he wrote the number, which was actually a 1901 marching band composition by Porter Steele. Picou rearranged it giving it a gentle swing and paraphrased the Piccolo
part to create his famous clarinet solo. This became a local standard part, and no younger New Orleans clarinetist was considered proficient until he could duplicate Picou's part. Unusually in a music that values improvisation
it became a set piece; commonly later clarinetists would solo once through reproducing or sticking close to Picou's solo, and then do their own improvisations on a second solo.
Alphonse Picou at least once followed fellow musicians up north to Chicago
about 1917-1918 (and possibly briefly to New York City
in the early 1920s) but said he didn't like it up north and spent the bulk of his career in his home city.
"King" Joe Oliver commissioned Picou to write new tunes for his band. Picou's compositions include "Alligator Hop", "Olympia Rag".
During the Great Depression
Picou returned to metal smithing. In the 1940s he was able to return to playing professionally regularly, made his first recordings, and opened a bar in a building he owned on Claiborne Avenue.
For years into the 1950s he was a regular on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter
with Papa Celestin
's Band (with whom he also did radio
broadcasts) and leading his own group.
Picou's funeral procession
in 1961 was one of the largest the city had seen, with several brass bands and many additional musicians playing to give Alphonse Picou a send off. Many commentators said it marked the end of an era as the death of the last prominent still working musician from the very birth of jazz music.
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 who also wrote and arranged music.
Alphonse Picou was born in a prosperous middle class Creole of Color family in downtown New Orleans. He was working as a professional musician by age 16 on both guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, but then concentrated on the later instrument. As his family frowned on music being a person's sole trade, Picou trained and worked as a tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
smith, including putting the copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
sheeting on church steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
s; however soon Picou was so much in demand as a clarinetist that he made most of his living from music. He played classical music with the Creole section's Lyre Club Symphony Orchestra. He also played with various dance bands and brass bands, including those of Bouboul Fortunea Augustat, Bouboul Valentin, Oscar DuConge, Manuel Perez
Manuel Perez (musician)
Emanuel Perez – also known as Manuel - was an early New Orleans jazz cornetist and bandleader. Being a contemporary of Buddy Bolden, Perez is considered one of the originators, and was influential in crafting the early jazz and ragtime sound.-Life:Some details of his early life remain obscure...
, Freddie Keppard
Freddie Keppard
Freddie Keppard was an early jazz cornetist.Keppard was born in the Creole of Color community of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. His older brother Louis Keppard was also a professional musician. Freddie played violin, mandolin, and accordion before switching to cornet...
, Bunk Johnson
Bunk Johnson
Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson was a prominent early New Orleans jazz trumpet player in the early years of the 20th century who enjoyed a revived career in the 1940s....
, 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...
, the Olympia Brass Band
Olympia Brass Band
The Olympia Brass Band is a New Orleans jazz brass band.The first "Olympia Brass Band" was active from the late 19th century to around World War I...
and others. The light skinned Picou sometimes worked with white bands as well in his youth, including at least on occasion 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....
. (This opportunity was not available to musicians with darker skin due to racial discrimination in the U.S. Southern States at the time.)
Picou was one of the early musicians playing in the new style that was developing in the city, not yet known as "jazz". He sometimes played in the band of perhaps the most important force in the musical change, Buddy Bolden
Buddy Bolden
Charles "Buddy" Bolden was an African American cornetist and is regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of rag-time music which later came to be known as jazz.- Life :...
.
Many younger clarinetists cited Picou as an important influence, including Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds
Johnny Dodds was an American New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong. Dodds was also the older brother of drummer Warren "Baby"...
and Jimmy Noone. Picou's style (those who knew him for many years said that his style when he recorded was little changed from how he played early in the 20th century) is lilting with a gentle raggy
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
feel with subtle variations that are usually more melodic embellishments than what would later be called improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
. His style struck many who heard Picou late in his career as either "not quite jazz" or "just barely jazz".
Picou is perhaps best known for originating the clarinet part on the standard "High Society
High Society (Porter Steele)
High Society is a multi-strain melody, originally a march copyrighted in April 1901 by Porter Steele, which has become a traditional jazz standard....
". Some have mistakenly stated that he wrote the number, which was actually a 1901 marching band composition by Porter Steele. Picou rearranged it giving it a gentle swing and paraphrased the Piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
part to create his famous clarinet solo. This became a local standard part, and no younger New Orleans clarinetist was considered proficient until he could duplicate Picou's part. Unusually in a music that values improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
it became a set piece; commonly later clarinetists would solo once through reproducing or sticking close to Picou's solo, and then do their own improvisations on a second solo.
Alphonse Picou at least once followed fellow musicians up north to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
about 1917-1918 (and possibly briefly to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the early 1920s) but said he didn't like it up north and spent the bulk of his career in his home city.
"King" Joe Oliver commissioned Picou to write new tunes for his band. Picou's compositions include "Alligator Hop", "Olympia Rag".
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
Picou returned to metal smithing. In the 1940s he was able to return to playing professionally regularly, made his first recordings, and opened a bar in a building he owned on Claiborne Avenue.
For years into the 1950s he was a regular on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
with Papa Celestin
Papa Celestin
Oscar "Papa" Celestin was an American jazz bandleader, trumpeter, cornetist and vocalist.-Life and career:...
's Band (with whom he also did radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcasts) and leading his own group.
Picou's funeral procession
Jazz funeral
Jazz funeral is a common name for a funeral tradition with music which developed in New Orleans, Louisiana.The term "jazz funeral" was long in use by observers from elsewhere, but was generally disdained as inappropriate by most New Orleans musicians and practitioners of the tradition...
in 1961 was one of the largest the city had seen, with several brass bands and many additional musicians playing to give Alphonse Picou a send off. Many commentators said it marked the end of an era as the death of the last prominent still working musician from the very birth of jazz music.