Biography
Frankie Paris & Cold Sweat provoke strong opinions rather than mild ones, as the New York blues singer projects an intensity that elicits equally forceful reactions from listeners. His powerful tenor voice delivers soulful blues charged with gospel fervor, a style shaped by the church music that captivated him during childhood and by his enduring admiration for B.B. King.
Pat Cisarano and Jorge Ariza both regard Paris as a guiding influence and personal model. His strongest validation, however, comes from the loyal fans who return each week for the Sweat-In at Arthur’s Tavern in Greenwich Village, where performers and audience alike share an energetic evening. Paris often invites fellow musicians onstage, among them blues harpist Big Al Rosenfeld. His sets move freely from Santana dance numbers to Sinatra ballads and hard-driving blues, with some lyrics supplied by his wife, Linda Paris.
Born in Boston in the late 1940s, Paris sang gospel in his church choir and absorbed the recordings of blues legends including B.B. King, Sam Cooke, and Jackie Wilson. He began performing the blues at age seven and formed his first blues band at fourteen. At twenty he moved to New York and began appearing in clubs during the 1960s; he continues to perform there, notably at The Bitter End. Paris and his group once served as the house band for The Dana Carvey Show on ABC. Their regular engagement remains at Arthur’s Tavern in the Village.
Paris embodies the Greenwich Village entertainer, merging authentic blues with street-wise lyrics. His raspy voice navigates material such as “Any Age Can Be a Fool” and “Working for the Landlord,” and he captivates audiences by employing a “voice trombone” technique while striking percussion on a nearby table, a glass, or his own chest.
These numbers, together with his chart-making single “Gonna Scratch Your Name Off My Mailbox,” appear on his 1998 CD Right Around the Corner. The recording features Birch Johnson on trombone, Jon Dryden on keyboards, Dave Johnson on drums, and vocalists Roxy Perry and Catherine Russell. Their sound is simultaneously fiery and intimate, reflecting the clubs where they perform. Another standout track is Paris’s cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You.” The popular “Leo’s Juke & Jive” is also included. Paris sings that song on the blues compilation Swingin’ the Blues, Vol. 5. He is featured as well on the 1988 album Lost in Bass (AIM) and released the follow-up 10 Shades of Blue in 2002. Audiences can still catch him live in New York, where he sings while using his chest as a percussive instrument.
Pat Cisarano and Jorge Ariza both regard Paris as a guiding influence and personal model. His strongest validation, however, comes from the loyal fans who return each week for the Sweat-In at Arthur’s Tavern in Greenwich Village, where performers and audience alike share an energetic evening. Paris often invites fellow musicians onstage, among them blues harpist Big Al Rosenfeld. His sets move freely from Santana dance numbers to Sinatra ballads and hard-driving blues, with some lyrics supplied by his wife, Linda Paris.
Born in Boston in the late 1940s, Paris sang gospel in his church choir and absorbed the recordings of blues legends including B.B. King, Sam Cooke, and Jackie Wilson. He began performing the blues at age seven and formed his first blues band at fourteen. At twenty he moved to New York and began appearing in clubs during the 1960s; he continues to perform there, notably at The Bitter End. Paris and his group once served as the house band for The Dana Carvey Show on ABC. Their regular engagement remains at Arthur’s Tavern in the Village.
Paris embodies the Greenwich Village entertainer, merging authentic blues with street-wise lyrics. His raspy voice navigates material such as “Any Age Can Be a Fool” and “Working for the Landlord,” and he captivates audiences by employing a “voice trombone” technique while striking percussion on a nearby table, a glass, or his own chest.
These numbers, together with his chart-making single “Gonna Scratch Your Name Off My Mailbox,” appear on his 1998 CD Right Around the Corner. The recording features Birch Johnson on trombone, Jon Dryden on keyboards, Dave Johnson on drums, and vocalists Roxy Perry and Catherine Russell. Their sound is simultaneously fiery and intimate, reflecting the clubs where they perform. Another standout track is Paris’s cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You.” The popular “Leo’s Juke & Jive” is also included. Paris sings that song on the blues compilation Swingin’ the Blues, Vol. 5. He is featured as well on the 1988 album Lost in Bass (AIM) and released the follow-up 10 Shades of Blue in 2002. Audiences can still catch him live in New York, where he sings while using his chest as a percussive instrument.