Puccalo
Encyclopedia
Puccalo is the term used for the highest level of human oral mouth whistling
Whistling
Human whistling is the production of sound by means of carefully controlling a stream of air flowing through a small hole. Whistling can be achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips and then blowing or sucking air through the hole...

. The term is derived from combining the words "pucker" and "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...

" and 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
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...

. Playing the puccalo is distinguished from casual whistling, and places the instrument at the same prestige as other musical instruments.

History

Puccalo was a term first coined by the late jazz musician Ron McCroby, one of the leading puccaloists of the 20th century.

Like other highly skilled musicians, puccalo players have mastered their instrument, allowing them to perform most genres of music - from folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, 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...

, rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, ethnic, to western and eastern classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

.

Leading performers

  • Ron McCroby
  • Toots Thielemans
    Toots Thielemans
    Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...

  • Francesco Bonifazi
  • Geert Chatrou
    Geert Chatrou
    -Early life:Chatrou was born in Sint Odiliënberg in 1969. He started whistling at the age of four inspired by his father who used to whistle around the house.-Career:...

  • David Vincent
    David Vincent
    David Alexander Vincent , also known as Evil D, is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist and bassist for the death metal band Morbid Angel as well as the bassist for Genitorturers...

  • Robert Stemmons
  • Bobbejaan Schoepen
    Bobbejaan Schoepen
    Bobbejaan Schoepen is a pseudonym of Modest Schoepen was a Flemish pioneer in Belgian pop music, vaudeville, and European country music...

  • Brad Terry
    Brad Terry
    Brad Terry Is a jazz Clarinet-player and accomplished whistler. He has played with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Cheatham, Buck Clayton, Red Mitchell, Buddy Tate, Elliot Zigman, Eddie Thompson, John Basile, Steve Grover and Lenny Breau. Brad has led Jazz workshops and clinics in many...

  • Roger Whittaker
    Roger Whittaker
    Roger Whittaker is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability...

  • Luke Janssen
    Luke Janssen
    Luke Janssen is the winner of the 2009 world whistling competition. The holds the competition annually in Louisburg, North Carolina.Luke's whistling is unique as he uses his tongue and roof of his mouth rather than his lips in the more common pucker style...

  • Fred Lowery
    Fred Lowery
    Fred Lowery was a blind professional whistler who recorded a #9 Billboard chart hit version of The High and the Mighty with conductor and arranger LeRoy Holmes. Lowery whistled with Horace Heidt and Vincent Lopez in the 1930s and 40s...


External links

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