Rebecca Parris

December 28, 1951 – June 17, 2018

The world lost an incredible musical talent when Rebecca passed away on June 17, 2018 at age 66 after a long battle with health issues.

Rebecca Parris performed jazz for nearly three decades, having produced over ten CDs. Admired by vocal icons Shirley Horn and Sarah Vaughan, Rebecca was known for her ability to convey a song’s underlying emotion through masterful phrasing and the infusion of feeling. She had an inherent sense of swing and musical structure, lending authenticity to her improvisations.

Tributes from the Media

Rebecca Parris, Jazz Singer, Is Dead at 66 Rebecca Parris, a husky-voiced jazz singer known for both her blistering scat runs and her deeply affecting interpretations of ballads, died on June 17 in South Yarmouth, Mass. She was 66...[Read Full Article]

Rebecca Parris, 66, jazz singer of uncommon range and emotional depth With a vocal range that once soared over more than a half-dozen octaves, Rebecca Parris could touch every emotion in every listener, whether she was singing in a club, a concert hall, or an expansive outdoor venue...[Read Full Article]

Singer Rebecca Parris Dies at 66: “Boston’s First Lady of Jazz” was a performer and teacher to the end In Carmen McRae’s suitcase throughout her last year of touring was a tape of Rebecca Parris’ 1990 album, Love Comes and Goes. McRae told Parris that the recording was among her prized selection of “travel music.”[Read Full Article]

Local jazz icon Rebecca Parris dies at 66 A composer wrote it and Rebecca Parris would rewrite it, building the plane as she flew it, with dips and yaws and banks you never saw coming. Iconic Boston scene jazz DJ Ron DellaChiesa likened her six-octave voice to a Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, jazz legends who were Parris’ dear friends. [Read Full Article]

Remembering Rebecca Parris, Boston's "First Lady of Jazz" She has been called Boston's "First Lady of Jazz." But now, she is gone. Noted jazz singer Rebecca Parris died this past weekend at age 66. She was local — born at Glover Memorial Hospital in Needham, raised in Newton. She played in the top venues here, nationally, and abroad...and with the best: Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie. She had been in declining health for years. Reports are that she collapsed after leaving the stage following a performance on Cape Cod.. [Read Full Article]