Tis Autumn – The Search for Jackie Paris by Jackie Paris - jazzreview.com

28 Jun

Tis Autumn – The Search for Jackie Paris by Jackie Paris

Written by John Vincent Barron
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Director Raymond De Felitta delivers a gripping account of an overlooked singing legend in 'Tis Autumn - The Search for Jackie Paris. The film begins with De Felitta, a former jazz musician, describing the experience of first hearing a Paris recording on a Los Angeles radio station in 1991. Entranced by his singing, the filmmaker begins a long and frustrating search for information on the singer that eventually leads him to New York in March of 2004, where he finds Paris launching a comeback at the intimate Jazz Standard nightclub. Unfortunately, Paris' comeback would be short-lived, as he passed shortly after the Jazz Standard engagement.

Paris made a moderate splash in the jazz world in the 1950s with a string of critically acclaimed recordings and high praise from the likes of Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn. Unlike his admiring contemporaries, however, his career never quite reached household status and he eventually wandered into obscurity. Through interviews with family members and jazz personalities including Dr. Billy Taylor, James Moody and Mark Murphy, De Felitta probes deep to discover the truth behind a career full of missed opportunities.

If there is any joy to be found in De Felitta's film, it is through the exquisite soundtrack of rare Paris recordings, live footage from the Jazz Standard and an appearance the singer made on the Mike Douglas Show with his former wife and singing partner Anne Marie Moss. Through music the film succeeds at revealing Paris as a first-rate talent who deserves his proper place in jazz history.