{{short description|American singer and artist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Irván "Puco" Pérez | image = Irvan Perez 1991.jpg | caption = Pérez photographed for his NEA National Heritage Fellowship in 1991 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|12|29}} | birth_place = Delacroix, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|01|8|1923|12|29}} | death_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | resting_place = St. Bernard Catholic Cemetery | occupation = Folk singer, woodcarver, fisherman, trapper | spouse = Louise Bonomo | children = 4 | parents = | honors = National Heritage Fellowship (1991) }}
'''Irván J. "Puco" Pérez''' ({{IPA|es|iɾˈβam ˈpuko ˈpeɾes|lang}}; December 29, 1923 – January 8, 2008) was an Isleño folk artist and advocate for the Isleño identity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Armistead|first=Samuel G.|title=Irvan J. Perez|url=https://64parishes.org/entry/irvan-j-perez|website=64 Parishes|publication-date=2011-02-07}}</ref><ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Patricia|date=2008-02-19|title=Irván Pérez, 85; Singer of Décimas Preserved Isleños Culture, Dialect|newspaper=The Washington Post|publisher=Los Angeles Times|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-perez19feb19,1,3674786.story|url-status=dead|access-date=2008-03-02|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128015009/http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-perez19feb19,1,3674786.story|archive-date=2013-01-28}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Ware|first=Carolyn|title=Irvan Perez: Décima Singer and Wildlife Carver|url=http://www.louisianavoices.org/Unit5/edu_unit5_biography_iperez.html|website=Folklife in Louisiana}}</ref> He is most well known for the singing of ''décimas'', but he was also an accomplished woodcarver.<ref name="lat" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Harris|first=Sara-Ann|date=2012|title=The Evolution of the Isleño Identity|url=http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/islenos.html|website=Folklife in Louisiana}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|date=2008-01-10|title=Irvan J. Perez|url=https://obits.nola.com/us/obituaries/nola/name/irvan-perez-obituary?pid=100980461|access-date=2021-06-26|website=The Times-Picayune}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Irván Pérez: Isleno (Canary Island) Singer|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/irvan-perez|access-date=2021-06-26|website=National Endowment for the Arts|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Burnett|first=John|date=2005-12-07|title=Louisiana's 'Islenos' Torn Apart by Katrina|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5041976|access-date=2021-06-26|website=National Public Radio|language=en}}</ref> Throughout his life, he assisted academics in the study of the Isleño Spanish language, culture, and customs.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="lat" />
==Early life== Pérez was born on December 29, 1923, to Serephine (Serafín) "Fín" Pérez and Antonia Melerine in the Isleño fishing village of Delacroix Island.<ref name=":5" /> Pérez knew Isleño Spanish as a first language and possessed little knowledge of English until attending elementary school.<ref name=":0" /> Like many Isleños of eastern St. Bernard Parish, Pérez dedicated much of his life to commercial fishing and trapping.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=Irvan & Alen Perez: Delacroix Island|url=https://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e4-irvan.html|access-date=2021-06-26|website=The River of Song: The Artists}}</ref> Pérez's father taught him how to sing the traditional songs of his community and carve decoys.<ref name=lat/><ref name=":1" />
Upon the United States' entrance into World War II, Pérez dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Army.<ref name=lat/> At this time, he also married Louise Bonomo.<ref name="lat" /> During the War, he served in the Pacific and ultimately returned to St. Bernard Parish.<ref name="lat" />
==Artistry== In his youth, Pérez was familiarized with the folk traditions and art forms of the Isleño community by his father.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Notably, Pérez learned how to sing the Isleño ''décima''. While the ''décima'' is widely understood to be a form of poetry with a rigid structure and rhyme scheme, in the Isleño community the ''décima'' evolved to mean a "song of any form".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=MacCurdy|first=Raymond R.|title=The Spanish Dialect in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana|publisher=The University of New Mexico Press|year=1950|location=Albuquerque|pages=|asin=B003BGM7WY}}</ref> What makes the Isleño ''décima'' unique is the content which usually focuses on life in eastern St. Bernard Parish, specific community members, historical events, or other stories.<ref name=":3" /> Often ''décimas'' would use in-jokes and specific references only understood by the immediate community.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" /> Traditionally, different singers would sing improvise and modify ''décimas'' in rounds, but during the late twentieth century, it became more common for a single ''decimero'' to perform. Prior to this, Pérez and other ''decimeros'' would regularly sing at local dance halls and public events.<ref name=lat/><ref name=":3" />
Pérez was known for his high-pitched, tenor voice and particular style when signing and composing ''décimas''.<ref name="lat" /> In 1983, Pérez narrated the documentary ''Mosquitoes and High Water'' by the Center for New American Media.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|last1=Alvarez|first1=Louis|last2=Kolker|first2=Andrew|date=1983|title=Mosquitoes and High Water {{!}} Folkstreams|url=https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=75|access-date=2021-06-26|website=Folkstreams|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804151400/https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=75|url-status=dead}}</ref> The documentary focused on the importance of the ''décima'' to the Isleño community and the disappearance of Isleño customs in St. Bernard Parish.<ref name=":8" />
In 1999, Pérez was featured in the PBS series ''The River of Song: A Musical Journey''.<ref name=":7" /> Audio recordings of his songs are kept at the Louisiana Division of the Arts' Folklife in Education Project.<ref name=lat/> Pérez also performed at the Wolf Trap National Folk Festival, Carnegie Hall and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.<ref name=lat/>
In addition to singing, Pérez was an expert woodcarver of decoys and was known for his highly realistic carvings of songbirds and water fowl from cypress.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=lat/><ref name=":1" /> Many of his works were sold to support his family, while others have been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution.<ref name=lat/>
==Later life== In 1950, Pérez was employed at the Kaiser Aluminum factory in Chalmette, Louisiana which he would work at for twenty-five years.<ref name="lat" /> After his service in World War II, Pérez earned his GRE.<ref name="lat" /> After Hurricane Betsy in 1965, Pérez moved to the community of Poydras which was thought to be safe from future storms.<ref name=":6" />
In 1976, Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society of St. Bernard was organized at Delacroix Island, Louisiana. Pérez was greatly involved with the promotion of Isleño culture, and he visited the Canary Islands multiple times.<ref name="lat" /> During the 1980s and 1990s, Pérez opened his home to various linguists, sociologists and cultural anthropologists interested in documenting the language, customs, and culture of the Isleños.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="lat" /> Notably, Pérez was an informant to Samuel Armistead and Manuel Alvar in their individual investigations.<ref name=":0" /> Over the years, Pérez would become president of Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society and later the defunct Canary Islands Descendants Association.<ref name=":3" /> In 2001, Pérez performed for King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain.<ref name=":3" />
On June 7, 2005, Pérez's wife died.<ref name="lat" /> Shortly after, Hurricane Katrina devastated the region and completely destroyed Pérez's home.<ref name=":6" /> He lost irreplaceable recordings of his father's songs, as well as most of his woodworking tools.<ref name="lat" />
Pérez remained active until the end of his life. He sang at a public concert just three weeks before his death and carved one of his ducks the day he died.<ref name="lat" /> He suffered a heart attack at his home, and he died later that day at Tulane Medical Center on January 8, 2008.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="lat" /> His funeral was held on January 11, at St. Bernard Catholic Church and he was buried in St. Bernard Catholic Cemetery.<ref name=":4" />
== Legacy == Pérez was one of the last of the Isleño ''décima'' singers.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="lat" /> His death is seen as a great loss to the continued presence of Isleño Spanish and the customs of the Canary Islands in Louisiana.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Trapero|first=Maximiano|date=2008-04-08|title=Con la muerte de Irvan Pérez desaparece el dialecto canario de Luisiana|work=La Provincia (Canary Islands)}}</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|Biography}}
* Isleños (Louisiana) * Canarian Americans * Isleño Spanish * Delacroix Island, Louisiana * St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5041976 NPR: Louisiana's 'Islenos' Torn Apart by Katrina] *[https://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e4-irvan.html PBS River of Song: Irvan Perez] *[https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=75 Mosquitoes and High Water] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804151400/https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=75 |date=August 4, 2021 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Irvan}} Category:1923 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Louisiana Isleño people Category:American tenors Category:Musicians from New Orleans Category:American people of Spanish descent Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:American woodcarvers Category:Artists from New Orleans Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:20th-century American singers Category:Singers from Louisiana Category:20th-century American male singers Category:Canarian diaspora in the United States Category:American folk singers Category:Spanish folk singers Category:Spanish-language American singers