vernon film society
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‘TIS AUTUMN: THE SEARCH FOR JACKIE PARIS
Director: Raymond De Felitta
With: Peter Bogdonavich, Frank Whaley, James Moody
Run Time: 100 minutes
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Language: English
Rating: Not rated
Reviews: www.metacritic.com/film/titles/tisautumn
Jackie Paris was a legendary jazz vocalist and guitarist who performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Louis Armstrong. His records are mostly out of print and he disappeared so thoroughly that at least one major reference work listed him as dying in 1977 – before he suddenly resumed his career a quarter of a century later.
Director Raymone De Felitta filmed extensive interviews with the New Jersey-born Paris – before he actually did pass in 2004 – and offers speculation by everyone from musical historians to Paris’s family on why the singer’s career faded. Essentially, the film is a real-life Citizen Kane in miniature. The dogged reporter (De Felitta) is fascinated with Paris’s unusual voice and becomes determined to find the man behind it. At first De Filitta believed that Paris had died in 1977, so he was delighted to find the performer alive and working on a comeback. De Felitta’s film goes back in time to look for more biographical information about the elusive singer: his childhood and Italian-American family life in Nutley, New Jersey, in the thirties; his rise within the jazz world; his work with greats like Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker (including his participation in the legendary ’Round Midnight recording); his big album hit with Skylark in 1948; and his quick, inexplicable downfall and eventual disappearance from the jazz scene in the sixties.
De Felitta’s film, above all, is determined to restore Paris’s work to public view. Based on the many delightful samples on the soundtrack, it’s an exemplary goal. Part detective film, part tribute, the film chronicles one jazz aficionado’s obsession with understanding why the vocalist has been so overlooked and unheralded. De Felitta clearly makes a strong case for rediscovering this little-known artist. Even non-jazz fans will enjoy the filmmaker’s personal approach to uncovering the mystery surrounding Paris’s career.
“This entertaining and passionate documentary about the obscure jazz singer Jackie Paris tells the tale of an extraordinary voice and a self-destructive genius. It’s about being an artist, and living the life of a jazz musician, but it’s also about being a fan.” – John Anderson, Newsday
