Jazz Singer and Guitarist
Carlo Jackie Paris (September 20,1924 – June 17, 2004) was an American jazz
singer and guitarist born in Nutley. Over his career he performed and/or recorded
with some of the biggest names inlazz such as Nat King Cole, Lionel Hampton,
Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charles Mingus. He is best known for his recordings of “Skylark” and “‘Round Midnight.” He was well respected among fellow musicians and jazz critics alike.
From an early age, Mr. Paris loved to entertain. He broke into vaudeville with a song and dance act and enjoyed continued success working as a singer and guitarist in the early 1940s. After serving in the army during World War ll he teamed up with friend Nat King Cole to put together a jazz trio. From there, Jackie went on to tour with Lionel Hampton and success continued with Charlie Parker.
ln 1953, Mr. Paris was named Best New Male Vocalist of the Year in the first ever Down Beat Critics Poll. The winning female vocalist was Ella Fitzgerald, who repeatedly named him as one of her favorites.
One of the many highlights of Mr. Paris’s career was hls work with Charlie Mingus.
Mr. Mingus named Jackie as his favorite singer and used him in several recording sessions over a period of many decades, including 1952’s “Paris ln Blue” (writ-
ten expressly for Paris) and the Charles Mingus classic “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” on the album Changes Two in 1974. Some of Mr. Paris’s best-known albums include Songs by Jackie Paris (EmArcy),
Jackie Paris Sings the Lyrics of lra Gershwin (Time), and The Song ls Paris (lmpulse!). Mr. Paris recorded consistently through the years, from the 1940s up until his death in 2004.
ln 2006, Jackie Paris was the subject of the documentary “Tis Autumn: The Search
for Jackie Paris.”