[Dixielandjazz] Alphonse Picou clarinet solo

[D and R Hardie]

Hi All.
          As Steve suggests    there is an alternative to the 
traditional   account retailed by Wikipedia.
          Sam Charters  stated that the solo was created by piccolo 
player Bab Frank then playing in John Robichaux's orchestra. Frank 
passed it to George Baquet who made it into a clarinet feature.  (See p 
253 of Exploring Early Jazz)
             Picou claimed he wrote it when playing in Manuel Perez 
Imperial Orchestra around 1903. I had not heard the Tuxedo Brass Band 
story, perhaps it was the Tuxedo Orchestra. Bab Frank too appears to 
have played in the Tuxedo Orchestra ca 1910.
            The Dodds version, published in a number of fakebooks, 
differs from all the Picou recordings I have heard. Picou's version 
also differs significantly from the  piccolo score (in D presumably 
written for clarinet in A)
          The earliest recording of I have heard of High Society ca 
1909/10 does not include the obbligato in the piccolo part supporting 
the view put forward  in a previous post that it was a later addition.
regards
  Dan Hardie
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~darnhard/EarlyJazzHistory.html
or at
http://tinyurl.com/nqaup

On Saturday, August 4, 2007, at 05:01  AM, Steve Barbone wrote:

> Below is Picou's Bio from Yanow's All Music Guide. He wrote down the 
> High
> Society Solo around 1913, and arranged the music in more jazzy time 
> when he
> was with the Tuxedo Brass Band. (Just before he moved to Chicago) This
> wonderful player is virtually unknown to many current OKOM fans and
> consequently very underrated from a jazz history point of view. (IMO)
>
> Note also the theory that the High Society solo may have been based 
> partly
> upon an idea first put forth by George Baquet, another underrated reed
> player in New Orleans back when "Dixieland" meant "South". Picou was 
> the
> arranger for the High Society routine that we know today, and probably 
> for
> arranging the original March into a jazz warhorse.
>
> Those gray beards among us who listened to Jazz from New Orleans on the
> radio late at night in the 1940s are certainly well aware of him as he 
> was
> featured often. <grin>
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
> Alphonse Picou had such a long career and he reached so far back in 
> jazz
> history that it is surprising that he was only 82 when he died. Picou
> started playing guitar when he was 14, took up clarinet the following 
> year
> and was working professionally as early as 1894; he was part of the 
> birth of
> jazz. Picou was flexible enough to work with both reading bands and 
> those
> that featured improvisation; his piccolo solo on "High Society" (first
> devised while with the Tuxedo Brass Band and possibly based a bit on a
> George Baquet idea) was the first famous set solo in jazz, one that is 
> still
> played during that song. Picou, who formed the Independence Band in 
> 1897,
> played with virtually every significant New Orleans jazz musician 
> including
> Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson and Manuel Perez. He lived in Chicago 
> during
> 1914-18 but then returned to New Orleans permanently. During the 
> depression
> years he worked during the day as a tinsmith and only played part-time.
> Picou made his recording debut with Kid Rena in 1940 (being the best 
> part of
> those poorly recorded sides) and later in the decade he worked 
> regularly
> with Oscar "Papa" Celestin. Alphonse Picou (who never led a record 
> date of
> his own) was heard at his best with Celestin (during performances, 
> radio
> broadcasts and recordings) despite being in his early seventies. After
> Celestin's death, Picou led his own group at the Paddock in New 
> Orleans and
> played regularly until shortly before his passing, a last living link 
> to the
> days of Buddy Bolden. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
>
>
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