Meet Barbara Paris | Hair by Barbara Salon & Jazz Vocalist

Longmont day:I would start with out door breakfast at Lucille’s and getting there on bikes taking the bike path along the St. Vrain. after I would bike thru downtown Longmont.

Niwot Day:We would stop in the Niwot Market for a cool breakfast and enjoy their patio. After that I would stop in the Inkberry Book Store for a book reading.

Stop by the Little Shops, bike to downtown Niwot at visit Cummini’s for lunch on their fabulous outdoor patio.

Boulder Day: Boulder Trail to Boulder along Boulder Creek. we would then get to the Boulder Mall and park out bikes. I would head to the Boulder Mall because there are always beautiful flowers there. I then would make my way to the Boulderado Hotel to show my guest the stain. glass ceiling which was restored by Marie Garcia. We would then make our way to the Dushanbe Teahouse. It has out door seating and great chia tea and lunch on their beautiful patio. Make visit the art display at The Dairy Center for the Arts. For an evening sunset we would head to the Rio dinner on the rooftop.

We would finalize our Boulder visit by visiting St Julien Hotel for live music on their large back patio under the stars and try one of their specialty drinks.

Denver: Friday afternoon we would head to Denver to the Art Museum to see an interactive show. After that we would make our way to the Brown Palace for Friday afternoon “live jazz” in the lobby. We would then take in the early set at Dazzle jazz club and zip out of there to make our way to Nocturne for the late set of jazz.

Denver day 2: We could stay overnight in a  Historic Bed and breakfast and start out by visiting the botanical gardens. We will finish that visit with a walk around Cheeseman Park and breakfast at Chef Zorba’s. during the afternoon we would visit Larimer street and the surrounding areas. We would take in the swing lesson followed by a swing dance at the Mercury Cafe Sunday evening and dessert.

Fort Collins day: A must visit downtown Fort Collins for shopping , antique shopping . Followed with bites at the Elizabeth hotel for sunset and a piano set on the roof top lounge. There is often live music easily found in Ft Collins. Take in a show at the Lincoln theater. Drive thru the historic neighborhood and take in the sites.

Loveland Day: The sculpture park and enjoy the historic town of Loveland will be a stop we must enjoy.

Early on I met Paul Mitchell. I attended the International Hair Show in New York. He was a supreme artist at that time. He had come over from London with the incredible Vidal Sassoon. He was responsible for the use of the hand held hair dryer and then continued on to develop his own product line. He was an excellent mentor and friend. Initially from him I learned how to do socialicity (publicity). He introduced me to magazine editors and important people in the hair industry. He was often published and submitted photographs of his inspirations.

I went on to learn photography from a New York photographer Jonathan Pite, studied makeup with Linda Shae and set out to capture my hair creations. That experience lead to getting my hair photographs and inspirations published in trade magazines in many trade nagazines the world of hair design.

I then followed in developing my own product line. Aside of that and running my own salon I toured doing hair workshops and and held seminars both thoroughly inspired by Paul Mitchell.

Then I must add Jerry Murff and wonderful artist.. He was an art director at BBDO west. It was from him I was encouraged to become aware of the Art of true promotion. He helped with my portfolio which was the result of some wonderful opportunities. One that stands out is being able to work with a team of hairdressers at two of the Paris fashion shows. Jerry Murff was instrumental in my additional jazz career. He designed the cover of my first CD and he also solidified my stage name in print.

I was mentored as a jazz vocalist by Joe Bonner, a jazz pianist. He had an astounding amount of experience with vocalists. He was at one point of his life the rehearsal pianist for Aretha Franklin. He left a plethora of recordings in his discography. He was brought up by parents in a Gospel Choir and played organ early on. He encouraged me to sing and record. I was a young artist when I met him. He was so gentle and capable of developing me without any criticism. He encouraged me to record early on. When I asked if he thought I was ready to record. He said “you will not be who you are today tomorrow”. So I went forward. He was often my greatest motivation as I wanted him to feel I was serious about the music and that his time with me would be well spent. We worked together performing for 23 years. Joe gave me the name “Barbara Paris”. I did several recordings with Joe.

In between Joe and Billy there were many. One that stands out is Keith Waters. He is a wonderfully experienced pianist. We have worked intermittently for more than a dozen years. He often brings new material to my awareness and one of the kindest things about him is his confidence in me. He treats me like a true professional. He has accompanied me in so many settings and gives me superb musical support. I would like to actualize some of the material we do by recording at some point. Quite like the other musicians I have spent most of my time with he has become a friend. I look forward to many more performances with him.

I was fortunate to work with Billy Wallace, vocalist and jazz pianist. He had been performing since 1949 professionally. He had so much knowledge that in that I was able to expand my repertoire. We had a lovely friendship and he was also kind and encouraging. He loved to rehearse and would spend hours on melodies, tunes and piano lessons. We performed quite a bit during our 5 year period. That musical friendship was realized in a recording which I wrote my first grant for from Pathways to Jazz. He also helped me realize two of my personal compositions. Most recently I have discovered many of his life achievements. His 5 page discography was sent to me upon his passing from a jazz historian in Paris and to my surprise it was 5 pages long.