NICKI PARROTT
GENRES: Jazz / Duo / Trio / Band
LINKS…
BIO..
Born in Newcastle, Australia, Nicki Parrott 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 . 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 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 went to New York in May 1994. From June 2000-2009, she played on Monday nights at the Iridium Jazz Club with the legendary guitarist and inventor, Les Paul. 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. Nicki is a regular featured artist on The Jazz Cruise (USA) each year.
Nicki returned home to Australia in May 2022 and continues to perform, teach and tour internationally, mostly in Europe, Japan and the United States.