NICKI PARROTT AT THE LOUNGE THE CONCOURSE

Two brilliant Australian jazz musicians who first met many years ago as teenagers in Newcastle, Nicki Parrott & Andrew Dickeson… Photo credit Brian Wittman

The last time I saw Nicki Parrott was 35 years ago in Sydney in 1990, when she performed with the trio The Engine Room, playing with two visiting Russian musicians, pianist Daniel Kramer and trumpeter Alexander Fischer. At that time she was generally regarded as a promising young double bassist on the scene.

In the previous year 1989, The Engine Room – pianist/saxophonist Roger Frampton, drummer John Pochée and bassist Steve Elphick – pulled off a triumphant three-weeks visit to what was then the Soviet Union, which luckily I was able to accompany. This was a fantastic and memorable experience for all. In the following year, when the two Russians did a return visit, Elphick was unavailable, so Parrott came in to fill the breach. In reviewing one of their gigs writer John Clare said that Frampton and Pochée “paid her the ultimate compliment of easing up not one notch in their all-out, risk-taking approach”.

In 1994 Nicki left for the US on an Australia Council grant to study with the American bassist Rufus Reid. In 2000, she began what became a ten-year gig on Monday nights at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York with the legendary guitarist Les Paul. It was Paul who encouraged her to sing, which ultimately enabled Parrott to join the ranks of illustrious jazz instrumentalists – Nat King Cole and George Benson come to mind – who found that adding vocals to their armoury rewarded them with a larger audience than they otherwise might have enjoyed.

By the time Les Paul died in 2009, Nicki Parrott was well on the way to a thoroughgoing career as a bass playing vocalist with successful international tours to various countries to her credit.

It’s revealing that the pristine conditions of The Lounge tend to bring out the best in those performers presented in its monthly concerts. Nicki Parrott, along with pianist Peter Locke and drummer Andrew Dickeson were no exception, giving a brilliant performance that was generously appreciated by a large audience in this 300-seater venue. To begin with, Parrott is an extremely accomplished double bassist, whose playing could be heard clearly, owing to the beautiful sound that is possible in this splendid venue.

As a vocalist Parrott has a sweet, laid-back sound, with lovely phrasing and clear articulation. This supports my theory that talented jazz musicians invariably can sing well, because their education and training equip them to fully understand the nature of the music they’re presenting. All they require is a voice with acceptable sound quality, which Parrott possesses in spades. In other words Nicki Parrott’s artistry is exceedingly musical, which audiences can immediately relate to. From the first note I had the impression that Nicki’s oeuvre was pretty much honed to perfection, no doubt the result of her vast experience.

It was serendipitous that this gig brought together Nicki Parrott and Andrew Dickeson, both originally from Newcastle where they met as teenagers, when both were studying flute. As Peter Locke originally hails from Port Macquarie, it’s salutary to note that all three performers were from regional areas of the State before coming to Sydney to complete their education and/or seek work as professional jazz musicians.

In many ways Parrott’s program was an educational journey through the signature works of the great female jazz singers, including interesting information to focus one’s attention on essential aspects of jazz history.

In her tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady of Song, Nicki enlivened the performance by drawing attention to the extraordinary initial years of Ella’s career: in 1934, at the age of 17, she won the Amateur Night contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem; in 1935 she joined the Chick Webb Orchestra; and it wasn’t long before she had in 1938 her first hit A Tisket A Tasket. Originally a traditional nursery rhyme which Ella and a co-composer extended and embellished, it became an instant jazz standard, which Parrott sang beautifully.

Parrott’s odyssey ran to Dinah Washington, whose Destination Moon was presented (apparently George Clooney’s favourite song, Clooney being of course the nephew of the great singer Rosemary Clooney). Then, it was on to the classic What a Difference a Day Made, which earned Washington a Grammy Award in 1959 for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance.

Parrott referred to the fact that Dinah Washington died at 39, the sort of factual snippet which in my view always enlivens a jazz performance. Washington was apparently experimenting with diet pills, and died from an accidental overdose in 1963, not the first African American jazz great to die far too young.

During the first set the Mario Lanza classic Be My Love was played as an instrumental, highlighting the considerable artistry of Peter Locke on piano and Dickeson on drums, perhaps best-known as members of singer Gregg Arthur’s great band. As usual their contributions to the music throughout were a tonic.

Parrott returned to Ella Fitzgerald’s repertoire with her signature tune You’ll Have to Swing It Mr Paganini, and then closed the first set with Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 hit These Boots Are Made for Walkin‘.

Nicki had opened her performance with the Peggy Lee composition I Love Being Here With You, so there was a certain synchronicity in opening her second set with Lee’s greatest hit Fever. She began alone on stage accompanying herself on bass until, part way through the tune, she was joined by Locke and Dickeson. A nice touch of theatre.

In her tribute to Blossom Dearie (Let Me Love You; I’m Hip) Parrott mentioned that she would go down to 46th Street in NYC to hear Dearie, an artist whom she felt had mastered the art of cabaret performance. This prompts me to observe that, in many ways, even if her demeanour is low-key and unassuming, Parrott herself showed that she has brought her own artistry as a cabaret performer to a very high level. Her ability to bring great songs to life was evident throughout the performance but this was more compellingly evident as the second set went on.

No better example was Parrott’s moving version of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now, one of the 20th Century’s great masterpieces. This was palpably a high point of the evening’s presentation. When Parrott sang that song’s key lines, “It’s life’s illusions I recall; I really don’t know life at all”, I felt that the deep meaning of this great song was resonating with an audience which had been genuinely drawn into Parrott’s orbit. A great moment.

Following this intensity, it only remained for the performers to wind down with a touch of humour. A clever version of Young At Heart, with altered lyrics written by Nicki as a tribute to her mentor Les Paul, established a lighter mood and, at just the right time, guest instrumentalist Todd Hardy provided a welcome interlude with a version of the Jerome Kern standard The Way You Look Tonight.

Hardy’s flowing, lyrical style on flugelhorn was a model display of the essential language of jazz, showing how immortal the swing-feel is. Hardy stayed onstage for Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps, Parrott’s tribute to Doris Day.

The performance was then brought to a close with two novelty numbers written by Parrott: I’m a Woman, and The Middle Aisle of Aldi. Featuring clever, humorous lyrics, these parodies were light and highly entertaining. They further underlined Parrott’s demonstrated capacity as a cabaret performer to connect with an appreciative audience.

Who would have anticipated that the Nicki Parrott of 1990 would have evolved into the Nicki Parrott of 2025?  This is a remarkable success story in Australian jazz, and all credit to series curator Jackie Thomas-Piccardi for including this outstanding trio on The Lounge program.

This inspiring concert, courtesy of support from Willoughby Council, took place on July 3, 2025  in The  Lounge at the Concourse, Chatswood.