Armand John "A.J." Piron (August 16, 1888 – February 17, 1943) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ist, band leader, and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

In 1915, Piron and Williams together started the Piron and Williams Publishing Company, and in their first year of business published Piron's composition, “I Wish That I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate”, which became his biggest hit. After touring briefly with W.C. Handy in 1917, he started an orchestra under his own name, which soon included such notables as Lorenzo Tio

Lorenzo Tio

Lorenzo Tio Jr. was a master clarinetist from New Orleans, as were his father Lorenzo Tio Sr. and uncle Louis "Papa" Tio...

 and Steve Lewis

Steve Lewis (musician)

Steve Lewis was a jazz pianist and composer.Lewis was born in New Orleans. He was influenced by the piano stylings of Tony Jackson and Jelly Roll Morton, and became the premier pianist in Storyville after those two older musicians left town. When the District was closed down in 1917 he went on...

. Piron's New Orleans Orchestra quickly became the best paid African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 band in New Orleans, for Piron landed regular jobs at both the Spanish Fort amusement park

Spanish Fort, New Orleans

Spanish Fort, also known as Old Spanish Fort, Fort St. Jean, and Fort St. John, is a historic place in New Orleans, Louisiana, formerly the site of a fort and later an amusement park.-The fort:...

and the exclusive white New Orleans Country Club.

Back in New Orleans, he again lined up good jobs, returning to the Country Club, playing at Tranchina's Restaurant and on the excursion steamships Capital and President into the 1930s; in about 1935, he decided to dramatically change the sound of his orchestra to swing, in line with popular taste.