Barbara Paris is a great jazz singer, able to make warhorses sound new through her enthusiasm and subtle creativity. Paris was raised in a musical family. She learned to play guitar, piano, and violin as a child. Paris began her career as a folk singer when she was a teenager. She soon discovered jazz. Music was a sideline for Paris while she worked as a hairdresser. Her first jazz performance was recorded by the singer on April 3, 1989. Eddie Shu, a tenor saxophonist formerly associated with Gene Krupa and Claude Tissendier were instrumental in Paris’s encouragement. Tissendier took her to Europe, and she worked for five years with Joe Bonner in Colorado. Barbara Paris recorded three CDs on her Perea label. She is a regular in Colorado’s jazz scene and sings occasionally in Europe and the East Coast. Allmusic
