Screening Time: Sunday, May 14, 11:00 AM, Charles Theatre 2

Director: Raymond De Felitta

Cast: Jackie Paris, Billy Vera, Dr. Billy Taylor, Mark Murphy, James Moody, Harlan Ellison, Barry Newman, Anne Marie Moss, Peter Bogdanovich, Frank Whaley, Nick Tosches

Country: USA
Year: 2006
Running Time: 100:00 minutes
Format: Beta SP

When filmmaker and jazz musician Raymond De Felitta heard his first song sung by Jackie Paris, the voice grabbed him immediately and he was determined to find out all he could about this singer who was previously unknown to him.  Recordings and information were scarce and hard to find.  Paris had seemingly become a footnote in jazz music history as a music reference book listed his death in 1977.  Then in 2004, De Felitta saw a listing for a comeback performance by Paris and set off to meet his favorite singer.

The exaggerated report of Jackie Paris’ death wasn’t the only piece of misinformation De Felitta would find.  Interviews with Paris and his friends and relatives gave a somewhat clearer picture, but even then further details would be uncovered.  Paris had worked with legends such as Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker and had been put in the same class as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.

Tis Autumn shines a light on the talent of Jackie Paris and also documents how someone of his stature could have slid into obscurity.  Unfolding like a mystery novel, we follow De Felitta as filmmaker/detective who uncovers clues to reveal a portrait of one of America’s great vocalists.

-- Dan Krovich

Presented By: David Zellerford (producer)

David Zellerford began writing and directing plays in Seattle’s fringe theater community, which eventually led him to New York to pursue his MFA in Film from NYU.  The World Premiere of his thesis film and first feature production, Five Years (MFF 2002), garnered the award for Best Feature Film at the 2002 Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival.  As a writer and producer he has had projects in development with InDigEnt (Playhouse ’91, co-written with director Raymond De Felitta) and Filbert Steps Productions (Murdering Michael Malloy, also co-written with De Felitta based on Zellerford’s play Murder Trust).