R.I.P. Jackie Paris

[stevebop]

This was posted on another site earlier today by pianist Michael Weiss :

Heard this morning from Jackie's personal assistant that Jackie passed away yesterday afternoon. He was battling cancer for several months. While enduring unbearable pain, he performed at the Jazz Standard last March. He was scheduled to appear in August at the Iridium. A documentary of his life is currently in production. While I only began working with Jackie this year, it was a quite an experience.

*

[Joe Carter]

Aw, man, another one. I met Jackie through a mutual friend in the 1980s. He was a wonderful singer and a great guitarist. He sang with Bird! He had some great stories.

R.I.P. Jackie.

Joe C.

[Ron Thorne]

This is a very sad one for me.

Jackie Paris will always have a very special place in my heart, since I discovered him as a very young listener who was always listening for someone with a unique approach. I definitely found it when I discovered The Jackie Paris Sound, followed by Jackie Paris Sings The Lyrics Of Ira Gershwin. Whoa.

RIP, Jackie Paris~

[stevebop]

Jackie Paris, 79, a Jazz Artist Who Sang With Legendary Bands, Dies

by Peter Keepnews
New York Times, June 19, 2004

Jackie Paris, the jazz artist who first sang the words to the
Thelonious Monk standard "'Round Midnight" near the beginning of the
bebop era and performed for nearly seven decades with some of the
biggest names in jazz, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 79 and
lived in Manhattan.

The cause was complications of bone cancer, said David Grausman, a
friend.

Mr. Paris amassed glowing reviews and the admiration of his peers in
a career that began when he was a child, but never brought him to
fame.

He toured with Charlie Parker and worked with Charles Mingus. Ella
Fitzgerald was said to have counted him among her favorite singers.
The critic Leonard Feather praised him as one of the handful of male
singers who had retained the true jazz sound.

But widespread success eluded him. In 1962 he told an interviewer
that he had worked only 20 weeks over the previous five years. When
he referred to himself as a legend or said his albums were all
collectors' items, it was with a mixture of pride in his
accomplishments and regret that he remained unknown even to many jazz
fans.

Carlo Jackie Paris was born in Nutley, N.J., on Sept. 20, 1924.
Encouraged by an uncle who had played guitar with Paul Whiteman's
orchestra and by fellow performers like the dancer Bill Robinson,
known as Bojangles, he broke into vaudeville with a song-and-dance
act as a child. By the early 1940's he had begun working as a singer
and guitarist in New York.

After two years in the Army, he returned to New York in 1946 and was
drawn to the fabled jazz clubs on 52nd Street, where he worked as the
leader of his own trio and as a sideman, most notably with Parker.

He later worked with Lionel Hampton's big band and with Mingus. He
also recorded a handful of albums as a leader and performed in
nightclubs and on television. In the 60's and 70's, he frequently
worked with his wife, the singer Anne-Marie Moss, from whom he was
later divorced. His second wife, Joan, died in the early 90's. He
left no immediate survivors.

In recent years Mr. Paris made most of his income teaching master
classes and giving private lessons. But he also continued to record
and perform. His most recent album, "The Intimate Jackie Paris," was
released by the small Hudson label in 2001.

He had been scheduled to perform on Aug. 3 and 4 as part of
a "Legendary Vocal Week" at the Iridium jazz club in Manhattan. He
last performed in New York in March, at the Jazz Standard. Reviewing
that performance, Robert L. Daniels of Variety wrote that Mr. Paris's
familiar, warm, crusty baritone voice had lost none of its earthy
passion or velvety luster.

[Valerie]

One of the true, unsung heroes. We will miss you.

[clinthopson]

Its' so sad he never got the recognition he justly deserved.

Another voice silenced. . .

[Joe Carter]

I received this email announcement:

JACKIE PARIS

A JAZZ MEMORIAL SERVICE

at

ST. PETER¹S LUTHERAN CHURCH
619 LEXINGTON AVENUE
(ENTRANCE ON 54TH STREET)
NEW YORK CITY € 212.935.2200

THURSDAY, JULY 15th, 2004, 4PM

Benediction by PASTOR DALE LIND

MUSIC BY JACKIE¹S TRIO

With a preview screening of selected scenes
from the documentary
³Tis Autumn; The Art Of Jackie Paris²

featuring:

Dr. Billy Taylor
Hank Jones
James Moody
Anne Marie Moss
George Wein
Soupy Sales

Presented by the Family, Friends and Fans
of our beloved Jackie Paris.

For more information please contact:
Gene Davis at 212.874.1939 or
Sheryn Goldenhersh at foreverarriving@aol.com
or visit www.jackieparis.com