William N. Law Blog: Jackie Paris + Anne Marie Moss

Right at the peak of his recording career, when The Song Is Paris (Impulse) was released in 1962, Jackie Paris felt the jazz earth crumble beneath his feet. In the late 1940s and '50s, he had been among New York's hippest club singers, a jazz musician's singer. But by the early '60s, Paris was never able to leverage opportunity beyond jazz as the market shifted to pop. As a result, Paris spent the '60s scuffling as big-label recording shots for hip singers dried up. Unlike vocalese singer Mark Murphy, Paris either ticked off the wrong people or his with-it optimistic approach on off-beat songs didn't quite resonate with the mass market. Or both.

When Anne Marie Moss came to New York in the late 1950s, Paris was her favorite singer. In the late 1960s, Moss was singing in the city when Paris went to hear her. They met after, dated and in 1969 they married. It's hard to know whether the attraction was two-way. For Moss, she had a powerful crush on Paris. His voice touched something in her. For Paris, though, he may have viewed Moss as someone ideal to be at his beck and call, and a singer with whom he could team up for another crack at fame. For the next few years, Paris and Moss worked on their husband-and-wife club act.

Then in 1974, Paris and Moss convinced Jack Tafoya & Jazz Adventures Inc. to record them at the Maisonette, a popular club at New York's St. Regis-Sheraton Hotel where they were performing. On Sept. 28, 1974, Paris and Moss were backed by Michael Abene on piano, Harvie Swartz on bass and Steve Gadd on drums—an astonishing trio. Tafoya produced the album for the Different Drummer label, but Jackie Paris & Anne Marie Moss Live at the Maisonette came and went, along with Paris and Moss's last shot. In retrospect, the album probably needed a hit song for radio airplay, something Jackie probably foolishly waved off as being too un-hip.

The rest of the Paris-Moss story is dramatic and can be found in Raymond De Felitta's brilliant documentary, Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris. Paris died in 2004 while Moss died in 2012.

For years, the rare Jackie Paris & Anne Marie Moss Live at the Maisonette has been hard to find on LP, and it never reached the digital format. Sadly, it still hasn't been reissued. But fortunately someone has uploaded tracks to YouTube. The album is excellent and provides a glimpse at a duo in the early 1970s with something new to offer—a hip, go-getter's approach to jazz singing. Michael Abene's arrangements and piano along with Swartz's bass and Gadd's drums are terrific. Interestingly, Moss is the one who stands out. Both Paris and Moss should have been more than they were. Why they weren't remains a jazz mystery. The reasons can range from bad decisions and off-beat song choices to being difficult to deal with.

I reached out to the terrific arranger-pianist Michael Abene (above) for some insights:

"Jackie and Anne Marie could be difficult, Jackie more so. As in many groups, there were times when things fell into place and it was lots of fun. At other times, not so much. Jackie was a man of extremes. Ann Marie had a great set of pipes and was a terrific ballad singer. Jackie didn’t have the pipes that Anne Marie had, but in his own way he could really make a song his own.

"For the Maisonette date, Jackie and Anne Marie chose the material, and we all worked on ideas. I translated everything we kicked around into arrangements on paper. I have no recollection of what the Maisonette looked like or if any celebrities came to see us. I remember we would perform a couple of instrumentals with Jackie playing guitar. I think most of the musicians on the date would agree that these weren't our favorite moments.

"Jackie had a tendency to play for himself no matter what you played. But when he sang and played alone, he could create a wonderful mood. After their marriage broke up Anne Marie went on to do many solo performances. More people should have known about her."

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Jackie Paris & Anne Marie Moss Live at the Maisonette on vinyl at eBay for around $25.

JazzWax clips: Here's Jackie Paris and Anne Marie Moss singing Thou Swell, with a swinging, hip, early-'70s jazz sound...