Achille Joseph Baquet

While "passant blanc" might sound like an imported cheese, it is actually a Creole expression for black individuals who pass for white. This is a detail that inevitably comes up in the story of Achille Joseph Baquet. It was not really that unusual for black musicians to pass for white on the New Orleans music scene of 1915 and earlier. Partial to clarinets, the Baquet family's musical overlord was father Theogene Baquet, proficient on both clarinet and cornet and the first leader of the Excelsior Brass Band. Of the sons, George Baquet has the largest discography, having cut sides with both Jelly Roll Morton and Bessie Smith, among others. Harold "Hal" Bouquet is the most notorious, having been stabbed to death. And then there's Achille Baquet who, as has been established, passed for white. He was the only member of the family who was known for this lifestyle. Both he and George Baquet studied under legendary clarinetist Louis "Papa" Tio. Of Mexican descent, Tio and other talented members of his family were great influences on the music of New Orleans, credited with tossing in a dash of syncopated Latin rhythms. Achille Baquet developed into a fine saxophonist as well as clarinetist. The groups he played in included the Original Dixieland Jass Band, founded by drummer Johnny Stein and also featuring the noseworthy pianist and vocalist Jimmy Durante. This quartet also worked as the Original New Orleans Jazz Band and the New Orleans Jazz Band. Baquet also played with Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Orchestra, also known as Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band, and was part of the clarinet section of the Happy Schilling Dance Orchestra, a group whose name sounds like Austrian coins triumphing over the eurodollar. Then there is the Whiteway Jazz Band, to pick open a sore...