Rebecca Parris (December 28, 1951 – June 17, 2018) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer. During her career she appeared with Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Wynton Marsalis,

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...

, and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

. She performed at the

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jaz ...

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

Oslo Jazz Festival Oslo International Jazz Festival (Oslo Jazzfestival, established 1986 in Norway) is a Norwegians, Norwegian music event, held in August, with a focus on music form the jazz genre, performed on stages in Oslo. History The pilot project (1984–19 ...

, and the International Floating Jazz Festival. She won the Boston Music Awards nine times.

Critical reception

"I hear a little Carmen McRae when I listen to Rebecca", said Ron DellaChiesa, the jazz disk jockey at

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

in Boston. "And a little

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

. I think she's on that level". "Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae were my friends while they were alive, and it was a huge blessing to know them," said Parris. "And being accepted as one of them was huge".

Death

On June 17, 2018, Parris died at the age of 66.

Discography

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parris, Rebecca 1951 births 2018 deaths American jazz singers American women jazz singers People from Newton, Massachusetts Singers from Massachusetts 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Jazz musicians from Massachusetts