Jackie Paris

Carlo Jackie Paris, born on September 20, 1926, or 1924, in Nutley, New Jersey, was an American jazz singer and guitarist. He began performing in vaudeville as a child and served in the military from 1944 to 1946. In the early 1940s, he performed with Nick Jerret's band in New York City before starting a solo career. His first recordings appeared on MGM Records in 1947, featuring the single “Skylark”, and in 1949, he recorded the first vocal version of “’Round Midnight”. He toured with the orchestras of Lionel Hampton and Les Brown, and undertook two tours with Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. In 1952, he recorded the singles “Make Believe” and “Paris in Blue” with Charles Mingus for Debut Records. He signed with Impulse! Records in 1962 to release the album The Song Is Paris. His subsequent albums included Lucky to Be Me (1988), Nobody Else but Me, and The Lyrics of Ira Gershwin. In 1974, he collaborated with Mingus again, performing vocals on “Duke Ellington's Sound of Love” for the album Changes Two. He died on June 17, 2004, in New York City from bone cancer.

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