Nicki Parrott Trio performs on Saturday, October 26 from 8:30 to 11:00 pm at the Side Door Jazz Club.
Nicki Parrott – vocals and bass
Larry Fuller – piano
Jason Tiemann – drums
Nicki Parrott is a world-renowned double bassist and jazz vocalist. She was a resident Trio-member with the legendary Les Paul for over 10 years. In addition to performing at most of the world’s top jazz venues and festivals, she has recorded over two dozen vocal records for Venus Records (Japan) and Arbors Records (USA). Nicki’s recent vocal/bass CD, New York to Paris, (Arbors), charted in the top ten of Jazzweek upon its release.
Born in Newcastle, Australia, Nicki started her musical training with the piano at the age of four, and soon after took up the flute as well. She continued to play flute and piano throughout her school years, but switched to double bass at the age of 15 because her sister Lisa, who plays alto sax, wanted a bassist for her group. After completing high school, Nicki moved to Sydney to study jazz at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music and shortly after began to play with well-known Australian musicians such as Mike Nock, Dale Barlow, Paul Grabowsky, Bernie McGann, and Ten Part Invention. She also toured Australia with Russian musicians Daniel Kramer and Alexander Fischer and American trumpeters Bobby Shew and Chuck Findley.
Nicki studied with various bassists in Australia, and when visiting bassists such as Ray Brown and John Clayton were in town, Nicki would take a lesson with them. She is also the recipient of two awards, the first being a scholarship to Pan Pacific Music Camps at the age of 16, and first place in the 1992 Jazz Action Society’s Annual Song Competition for her composition Come and Get It, which is the opening track of Nicki and Lisa’s debut CD. She was also nominated for the annual Australian Young Achievers Award by the Arts Council of Australia who granted her the funds to come to New York to study with Rufus Reid.
Nicki Parrott came to New York in May 1994. Since June 2000, Nicki has played on Monday nights at the Iridium Jazz Club with the legendary guitarist and inventor, Les Paul. Nicki and her sister, Lisa Parrott headlined at the prestigious Tribute to Mary Lou Williams festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in May 2002, which was broadcast on National Public Radio. She is also the resident bassist with the Kitchen House Blend which premieres and performs new music by New York composers. Since coming to New York she has performed with such notable musicians as Randy Brecker, Clark Terry, Jose Feliciano, Rebecca Paris, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Patti Labelle & the New York Pops Orchestra, Harry Allen, Michel Legrand, Marlena Shaw, Mike Stern, David Krakauer, Ken Peplowski, Ann Hampton Callaway, Scott Hamilton, Larry Carlton and Victor Wooten. Nicki has also performed in several Broadway shows such as Avenue Q, Imaginary Friends, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Summer of ’42 and Jekyll and Hyde.
Nicki has performed at many major festivals around the globe including the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y, Litchfield Jazz Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. She has also performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival, the Cully Lavaux and the Ascona and Berne Jazz Festivals in Switzerland, the Edinburgh and Grimsby Jazz Festivals in the UK, the Krakow Music Festival in Poland, the Ottawa Jazz Festival in Canada, Fujitsu Jazz Festival in Japan and various festivals throughout Australia.
