Achille Joseph Baquet (November 15, 1885 – November 20, 1955/1956) was an 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 and saxophonist. He was an early musician on the New Orleans jazz scene. Baquet was raised in a musical family. His father, Théogène Baquet, led the Excelsior Brass Band, and his brothers, Harold, and George, were both musicians, George being the most famous of the three. Achille was

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

(" Creole of Color" in the local terminology), but was light-

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

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

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. He learned clarinet from Luis Tio, and played with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band, and the Happy Schilling Dance Orchestra. Baquet was thought to have been a member of the Whiteway Jazz Band, but the membership of this ensemble has never been established definitively.

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

, who assumed leadership of the Original New Orleans Jazz Band, hired Baquet in 1918. Baquet's credits as a composer include "Why Cry Blues", written with Jimmy Durante. According to Papa Jack Laine, he co-wrote "

Livery Stable Blues "Livery Stable Blues" is a jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez (''né'' Raymond Edward Lopez; 1889–1979) and Alcide Nunez in 1917. It was recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on February 26, 1917, and, with the A-side and B-side, ...

" with Yellow Nunez.

References

;Footnotes ;Further reading *

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...

, Achille Joseph Baquetat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

External links

Achille Joseph Baquet, My Dad's Dad
Family website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baquet, Achille 1885 births 1950s deaths American jazz clarinetists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Original New Orleans Jazz Band members Excelsior Brass Band members Baquet family Jazz musicians from New Orleans