"High Society" is a multistrain melody, originally a march copyrighted in April 1901 by Porter Steele, which has become a traditional jazz standard.
The piccolo obbligato is not found in Steele's first version of the song; it appears to have originated in an orchestration by Robert Recker from later in 1901.
[1] In New Orleans, Louisiana, Alphonse Picou adapted the piccolo part into a clarinet variation,[2] sometimes considered one of the earliest documented jazz solos.
The first couple of bars were frequently quoted by Charlie Parker in his improvisations.
In the 1920s Walter Melrose added lyrics to it (which are never performed[citation needed]) and republished it, as he did to several jazz compositions in order to claim a larger share of the royalties.