Billie & De De Pierce

Pianist Billie Pierce and cornetist De De Pierce formed an appealing, musically cohesive partnership from the time of their 1935 marriage onward. Billie delivered barrelhouse piano and blues vocals with assurance, while De De produced straightforward yet telling cornet lines and sang with evident feeling. Billie, who had previously performed alongside Buddy Petit and George Lewis, joined De De for a Center album in 1953, yet both musicians remained relatively little known until the early 1960s. After losing his sight during the 1950s and stepping away from music for a period, De De resumed performing; by 1959 the couple was active again, cutting material for Folklyric. Additional dates for Jazzology, Riverside, and American Music— the last of which appeared posthumously in 1996— captured the pair at their strongest. They also participated in the formative years of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, contributing to Atlantic sessions that included a 1962 collaboration with George Lewis, as well as releases on the Preservation Hall label and Rarities.