|
Creole clarinetist Alphonse Floristan Picou was one of
the earliest Jazz musicians from New Orleans and is generally credited
with developing the clarinet part for the song High Society which was one
of the most influential parts of early Jazz. At the turn of the century
Picou was playing in
Excelsior Brass Band and then joined Freddie Keppard´s
Olympia Orchestra. In
the years before World War I he was playing with the Tuxedo Brass Band in
New Orleans. Sometime around 1915 he played briefly in Chicago with
Manuel
Perez at the Arsonia Café, but soon afterward returned to New Orleans. In
1918 he was playing in Wooden Joe Nicholas' band but spent the 1920s making
his living playing in non-Jazz orchestras. He left the music business in
1932 and worked as a tinsmith. During the Dixieland revival of the 1940s Picou returned to the music business and played and made records with
Papa
Celestin and Kid Rena. He led his own small group in New Orleans in the
1950s and appeared with the Eureka Band. When he
died in 1961 he was given an elaborate Jazz funeral.i1
His musical career began in 1892 in a band
lad by Boudoul Valentin. In 1893 he organized his own Accordians Band and
in 1897 the Independence Band.16
On the video "Sing On" you
can see the Eureka Brass Band playing at Picou´s funeral in 1961
|
