Alphonse Picou in New Orleans - late 19th Century

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, pages 18-19:

I think the first ragtime jazz band I ever heard was Boo Boo Fortunea. He was the only man at that time who played the slide trombone. It was approximately--well, before 1900. I was still fifteen or sixteen years old then.

He played the trombone and he was a barber at that time. He was living right around the corner from where I lived and he heard me practicing my instrument [clarinet]…

I took lessons for about eighteen months. My teacher's name was Mr Morand. He was a Creole.

[Boo Boo Fortunea invited Alphonse Picou to rehearse with his band]. "What do …   more >>

cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 18-19. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1433409716448 accessed: 23 December, 2024

location of experience: New Orleans

Listeners

Alphonse Picou
Clarinetist
1879-1961

Listening to

hide composers
ragtime performed by Boo Boo Fortunea Band, Alphonse Picou

Experience Information

Date/Time late 19th Century
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Thu, 04 Jun 2015 10:21:56 +0100
Approved on Sat, 20 Aug 2016 15:42:25 +0100