Alphonse Floristan Picou (October 19, 1878 – February 4, 1961) was an important very early American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

, who also wrote and arranged music. He was born and died in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Early life and education

Alphonse Picou was born into a prosperous middle-class Creole of Color family in downtown

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. His parents were Alfred Picou and Clotilde (Serpas) Picou, who also had other children: Cecilia, Willie, Feriol, Joseph, and Philomene Picou.

Career

By the age of 16, he was working as a professional musician on both the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, but then concentrated on the latter instrument. As his family frowned on music being a person's sole trade, Picou trained and worked as a

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

smith, including putting the

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

sheeting on church

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

s. Soon Picou was so much in demand as a clarinetist that he made most of his living from music. He played

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

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 Freddie Keppard (sometimes rendered as Freddy Keppard; February 27, 1890 – July 15, 1933) was an American jazz cornetist who once held the title of "King" in the New Orleans jazz scene. This title was previously held by Buddy Bolden and su ...

Bunk Johnson Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1889 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter from New Orleans. Biography Birth Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although Johnson stated on his 1937 application for Socia ...

, the

Excelsior Brass Band The Excelsior Brass Band was a brass band from New Orleans active between 1879 and 1931. 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 ...

, the

Olympia Brass Band The Olympia Brass Band is an American jazz brass band from New Orleans. History The first Olympia Brass Band, then called 'The Olympia', was active from the late 19th century to c 1914. Its most famous members from that time are Freddie Keppar ...

and others. The light-skinned Picou, with majority European ancestry, sometimes worked with white bands as well in his youth, including at least on occasion with

Papa Jack Laine George Vitelle "Papa Jack" Laine (September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) was an American musician and a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish–American War to World War I. He was often credited for training many musi ...

. (This opportunity was not available to musicians with darker skin due to

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...

in the

U.S. Southern States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...

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

Buddy Bolden Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden (September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931) was an American cornetist who was regarded by contemporaries and later jazz scholars as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of ragtime music, or "jass ...

, perhaps the most important force in the musical change. Many younger clarinetists, including

Johnny Dodds Johnny Dodds (; April 12, 1892 – August 8, 1940) was an American jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist based in New Orleans, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, ...

and

Jimmie Noone James "Jimmie" Noone (April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. After beginning his career in New Orleans, he led Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, a Chicago band that recorded for Vocalion and Decca ...

, cited Picou as an important influence. Picou's style (those who knew him for many years said that his style when he recorded was little changed from how he had played early in the 20th century) is lilting with a gentle raggy feel. His subtle variations are usually more melodic embellishments than what would later be called

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

. 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, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

". Some have mistakenly stated that he wrote the number, which was a 1901 marching band composition by

Porter Steele Porter Steele (December 12, 1880–December 20, 1966) was an American lawyer and musician, known as the composer of the march and later jazz standard "High Society". He was born in Natchez, Mississippi, the son of Hiram Roswell Steele (1842&n ...

. Picou rearranged it giving it a gentle swing and paraphrased the

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

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 play a duplication of Picou's part. Unusually in a music that values

, 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. He often played on an unusual Albert Penzel-Mueler alto clarinet with the horn bent upwards instead of straight ahead. It can be seen on several photos of Picou and is displayed at the Historic New Orleans Collection. Alphonse Picou at least once followed fellow musicians up north to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

about 1917–1918 (and possibly briefly to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in the early 1920s), but said he did not like life up North. He spent most 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", and "Olympia Rag". During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, Picou returned to

metal smithing A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest metalworking occupations. Shaping metal with a h ...

. 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 The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...

with

Papa Celestin Oscar Phillip Celestin (January 1, 1884 – December 15, 1954), better known by his stage name Papa Celestin, was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. Life and career Celestin was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, to a Creole family, son o ...

's Band (with whom he also did

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

broadcasts) and leading his own group. Picou's

funeral procession A funeral procession is a procession, usually in motor vehicles or by foot, from a funeral home or place of worship to the cemetery or crematorium. In earlier times the deceased was typically carried by male family members on a bier or in a cof ...

in 1961, was one of the largest the city had seen, with several brass bands and many additional musicians playing Picou a sendoff. Though Picou was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, the service was conducted by a Baptist minister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picou, Alphonse 1878 births 1961 deaths Jazz musicians from New Orleans American jazz clarinetists Louisiana Creole people Dixieland clarinetists Excelsior Brass Band members Olympia Orchestra members Tuxedo Brass Band members Olympia Brass Band members African-American Catholics Camelia Brass Band members Imperial Orchestra members