Nicki Parrott (pronounced pa-ROTT) is a jazz vocalist and bass player from Australia.

Background

Parrott took piano lessons when she was four years old, then learned flute. When she was fifteen, she started playing double bass, and after graduating from high school she studied at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, Australia. While in school, she performed with Australian musicians

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and

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and with American musicians Chuck Findley and Bobby Shew.

Career

She moved to New York City in 1994 and continued her education on bass with Rufus Reid. Her teachers also included Ray Brown and

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. For several years she played bass guitar and sang backing vocals for an R&B band in Manhattan. She started a trio with

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and

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. In 2000, she became the bassist for Les Paul in his trio's weekly performances at a club in Manhattan. She appeared in two documentaries about Paul: ''Chasing Sound'' and ''Thank You, Les''. Parrott recorded her first album, ''Awabakal Suite'' (2001), with her sister, Lisa Parrott. She had roles on Broadway in the musicals ''

Jekyll & Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'' and ''

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''. Her first solo album, ''Moon River'', was released in 2008 and consisted of jazz standards. She has recorded tribute albums to Burt Bacharach, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Blossom Dearie, Peggy Lee, and the Carpenters.

Awards and honors

* Best Vocal Album, ''Swing Journal'', ''Moon River'', 2007; ''Fly Me to the Moon'', 2008 * Golden Disc Award, ''Swing Journal'', ''Black Coffee'', 2010

Discography

As leader

* ''Awabakal Suite'' with Lisa Parrott (Monkey Pants, 2004) * ''Moon River'' (

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

, 2007) * ''People Will Say We're in Love'' with Rossano Sportiello ( Arbors, 2007) * ''Do It Again'' with Rossano Sportiello (Arbors, 2009) * ''Fly Me to the Moon'' (Venus, 2009) * ''Black Coffee'' (Venus, 2010) * ''Can't Take My Eyes Off You'' (Venus, 2011) * ''Like a Lover'' with

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(Venus, 2011) * ''Sakura Sakura'' (Venus, 2012) * ''Summertime'' (Venus, 2012) * ''Autumn Leaves'' (Venus, 2012) * ''Winter Wonderland'' (Venus, 2012) * ''Live at the Jazz Corner'' with Rossano Sportiello, Eddie Metz (Arbors, 2012) * ''The Last Time I Saw Paris'' (Venus, 2013) * ''The Look of Love'' (Venus, 2014) * ''Angel Eyes'' (Venus, 2014) * ''It's a Good Day'' with Rossano Sportiello, Eddie Metz (Arbors, 2014) * ''Sentimental Journey'' (Venus, 2015) * ''Two Songbirds of a Feather'' with

Rebecca Kilgore Rebecca Kilgore (born September 24, 1949) is an American jazz vocalist based in Portland, Oregon. She has been called "one of the best interpreters of the Great American Songbook." She has performed with jazz pianist and composer Dave Frishberg, ...

(Arbors, 2015) * ''From Joplin to Jobim'' with Engelbert Wrobel, Paolo Alderighi, Stephanie Trick (Wrobel, 2016) * ''Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters Song Book'' (Venus, 2016) * ''Strictly Confidential'' with Rossano Sportiello, Eddie Metz (Arbors, 2016) * ''Dear Blossom'' (Arbors, 2017) * ''Unforgettable'' (Venus, 2017) * ''Mambo to Tango'' (Wrobel, 2018) * ''Close to You'' (Venus, 2018) * ''Stompin' at the Savoy: A Tribute To Ella & Louis'' with Byron Stripling (Venus, 2018) * ''New York to Paris'' (Arbors, 2019) * ''If You Could Read My Mind'' (Arbors, 2021) * ''Great 70's'' (Venus, 2021)

As guest

With David Krakauer * ''A New Hot One'' (Label Bleu, 2000) * ''The Twelve Tribes'' (Label Bleu, 2002) * ''Live in Krakow'' (Label Bleu, 2003) * ''Bubbemeises'' (Label Bleu, 2005) With Chuck Redd * ''For George, Cole, and Duke'' (Blue Heron, 2014) * ''Groove City'' (Dalphine, 2018) With others *

Muriel Anderson Muriel Anderson (born June 17, 1960) is an American fingerstyle guitarist and harp guitarist who plays in many genres. She is the first woman to win the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship. Career Muriel Anderson was born in Downers Grove ...

, ''Wildcat'' (2005) *

Johnny Frigo Johnny Frigo (December 27, 1916 – July 4, 2007) was an American jazz violinist, bassist and songwriter. He appeared in the 1940s as a violinist before working as a bassist. He returned to the violin in the 1980s and enjoyed a comeback, recordin ...

, '' Johnny Frigo's DNA Exposed!'' (Arbors, 2001) *

Skitch Henderson Lyle Russel "Skitch" Henderson (January 27, 1918 – November 1, 2005) was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname "Skitch" came from his ability to "re-sketch" a song in a different key. Bing Crosby suggested that he should use the ...

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He was the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and double bassist Martin Pizzarelli. He worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett (1971) ...

, Legends (Arbors, 2003) *

, ''The Music of Jimmy Van Heusen'' (Jump, 2005) *

, ''Sunrise'' (Arbors, 2018) *

Randy Sandke Jay Randall Sandke (born May 5, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz trumpeter and guitarist. While a student at Indiana University in 1968, he and Michael Brecker started a jazz-rock band (Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band) that performed at the Notre ...

- Unconventional Wisdom (Arbors, 2008) * Antti Sarpila, ''We'd Like New York...In June!'' (Arbors, 2009) * Derek Smith, ''High Energy'' (Arbors, 2001) * Warren Vaché-John Allred Quintet, ''Jubilation'' (Arbors, 2008) *

Johnny Varro Johnny Varro (born 1930) is a pianist with roots in the swing style of jazz. He is also a leader and arranger. Commodore Music Shop Varro was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began studying piano at the age of ten. During his teenage years, he wa ...

, ''All That Jazz'' (Arbors, 2001) * Deborah Weisz, ''Grace'' (Va Wah, 2005) *

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

, Les Paul and His Trio, ''New York Minute'' (2015) *

Rachel Z Rachel Carmel Hakim ( née Nicolazzo), better known as Rachel Z, is a jazz and rock pianist and keyboardist. She has recorded 10 solo albums as a jazz musician. Her musical style, especially her improvisation, has been described as adjacent to H ...

, ''First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'' (2003)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parrott, Nicki 1970 births Australian jazz singers Australian jazz double-bassists Venus Records artists Living people 21st-century double-bassists Women double-bassists 20th-century double-bassists 20th-century Australian women singers 21st-century Australian women singers Arbors Records artists