Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris: A Brutally Honest Film

In 1953, Jackie Paris was hailed as the best new male vocalist in a critic's poll. By 1960 he had recorded his last album and by 1977, the jazz world thought Jackie was dead. What happened to this singer, whose voice could stir listeners' souls? Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris takes us from the early beginnings of his career to his late-life comeback and the tragic events in between.

Jackie Paris had it all. He had looks, rhythm, talent, and a voice that rivaled any legendary crooner. He worked with some of the biggest names in jazz and was a favorite of the critics. It seemed as if this New Jersey born singer was destined to be one of the greatest ever. Yet only a few years later, in 1960, Paris had recorded his sixth and final album and soon disappeared from the jazz scene. His recordings soon faded as well, almost as if he were just a myth, a whisper of something that never was. In 1977, a major jazz publication said he had died. In the mid 1990s, director and jazz fan Raymond de Felitta heard some of the singer's rare recordings and immediately became a fan. Immediately intrigued, de Felitta set out to find out all he could about this mysterious and enigmatic singer and put it on film. In 2004, while piecing together the life of this almost-famous, yet incredibly talented singer, de Felitta discovered Jackie singing at a Manhattan jazz club.

Tis Autumn details de Felitta's search for this mysterious singer. It's packed with well-edited interviews with his family, collaborating musicians, friends, and admirers. We're also treated to several clips of Jackie Paris' singing. The film follows his short and tumultuous career and the effects his pride and hot temper had on it. Director De Felitta does a good job of helping us understand how someone so close to fame could fall so far from the public eye. We learn that this fall wasn't just from Paris' intense pride, but also from bad luck and market flukes. It seems that fate itself conspired against this talented performer.

The performance clips and interviews alone make this film worth watching. The video and sound quality is very good, but the best parts of all are the very rare interviews with the ailing singer himself in 2004. Shortly after these interviews were conducted, Jackie succumbed to bone cancer and never saw the finished product. Jazz and music fans alike are sure to enjoy this movie. Although I'm not a big fan of jazz, I found this film to be engrossing and very worthwhile. Unraveling the mystery of Jackie Paris was one of the most interesting things I've witnessed in a long time. This movie is truthful and sometimes harshly honest. I recommend this film to just about anyone interested in the life behind an artist and his music.