Clément Doucet

Léon Clément Doucet (9 April 1895 – 15 October 1950) was a Belgian pianist.

Doucet was born and died in Brussels, Belgium. He studied for a time at the local Conservatoire, where his teacher Arthur De Greef had been a pupil of Franz Liszt.^[1]

Although his formal training was classical, he traveled to the U.S.^[1] around 1920 and by his return in 1923 had developed considerable talent as a jazz pianist. His left-hand technique in particular was influenced by the stride piano style prevalent in New York in the early 1920s. Some of his arrangements are still played today for instance "Chopinata", a jazz tribute to several works by Frédéric Chopin.

After returning to Europe, he became the house pianist at the Parisian cabaret Le Boeuf sur le Toit where he succeeded Jean Wiéner.^[2] He and Wiéner formed a piano-duet which lasted from 1924 to 1939.^[1] They performed over 2000 concerts and made over 100 recordings of jazz, blues, and classical music, as well as a small number of recordings in which they accompanied French chansonniers. These include ten sides by the duet with Maurice Chevalier, and others, solo, with Édith Piaf and Yvonne George (Wiéner) and Jean Sablon and Germaine Sablon (Doucet).

After World War II, Wiéner worked as a broadcaster and composer of film music.^[1] Doucet never entered a recording studio again and died of chronic alcoholism in 1950, according to Wiéner's autobiography.

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