Album Notes

“Patti Wicks' talent is double-edged. She knows the music from two disciplines and is able to enhance her singing with her piano. Hers is a lived-in voice that delivers a lyric knowingly with a hint of sprechtstimme. ”
-- Ira Gitler

Throughout her career of over three decades, jazz pianist/vocalist Patti Wicks has earned the respect and admiration of her peers, high praise from jazz critics at home and abroad and a dedicated following. The list of artists with whom she has worked, both as leader and sideman, is star-studded, including Clark Terry, Anita O’Day, Ira Sullivan, Sheila Jordan, Carol Sloane and Italy’s legendary jazz tenor player Gianni Basso.

Whether performing live or on a recording, Patti Wicks receives nothing but the most enthusiastic response from both audiences and reviewers alike.

“Welcome to the Saturday night performance at Pacifica's Sanchez Concert Hall where lucky audience members got to revel in the sing, swing and finesse of legendary jazz singer/pianist Patti Wicks and her impeccable, hip string accompanist, Bay Area bass great, Ruth Davies.”
-Jean Bartlett, Pacifica Tribune

Mama Rose’s-NYC
“….I adored Ms. Wicks and loved this show. With the amazing Linc Milliman on bass, this was a feast of wonderful music, played to perfection. The audience was sprinkled with local jazz aficionados and performers, and all were awed by the performance.”
- Stu Hamstra-CabaretHotline New York



“ITALIAN SESSIONS replicates the serendipitous combination that contributed so much to the success of BASIC FEELING..[again] featuring bassist Giovanni Sanguineti and drummer Giovanni Gullino. This time out, however, the musicians are complemented by special guest star Gianni Basso, the legendary Italian tenor-sax player…..Classically trained, Wicks adopts a rigorous approach to the keyboard; the dark tones of the notes she sings hang suspended in the air like tight-rope walkers waiting their turn to toe the line. It should also be said that Wicks never strives for effect: her art is characterized by the same utmost naturalness that distinguishes the playing of her musical partners -- including Basso, who contributes more than a few splendid solos." -- Fa. Fr., Il Cittadino

“Patti Wicks represents the historical apex of female jazz pianists/vocalists, with Nina Simone and Shirley Horn on one side and Patricia Barber and Dena DeRose on the other…..Her previous recordings, Room at the Top, Love Locked Out and Basic Feeling, all tastefully revealed a vast, understated talent worthy of ample acreage in the field of jazz vocals.…….A wicked ballad performer like her friends Rebecca Parris and Nancy King, Wicks’ voice and time can add an additional dimension to any song she sings…..She makes Fisher and Segal’s “I Keep Going back to Joe’s” her “saloon” song in the same way Sinatra did with “One For My Baby.”….. On the upbeat side, Wicks’ playfully romps through the Kahn and Styne standard “A Beautiful Friendship….Wicks’ arrangement of “I’ve Got the World on a String” is a revelation…… Recorded with [the same] Italian rhythm section, Italian Sessions recalls the ambience of Wicks’ last recording, Basic Feeling,
with special guest tenor saxophonist Gianni Basso on “Laura” and “It Might as Well Be Spring,” …. Wicks’ piano and voice blends the smoky and the heady in a solution of relaxed bliss…[bassist] Giovanni Sanguineti and [drummer[ Giovanni Gullino buoy Wicks’ piano and voice on a light wave…” - C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

“I've spent this afternoon listening to one of the great, swinging singer-pianists…I’m talking about Patti Wicks and her new CD “Italian Sessions”. It’s a lesson to us all, the chords, the lyrics, the choice of songs, the beautiful piano playing, and that VOICE. The new Italian CD is marvelous.” - Richard Rodney Bennett