Bake’s Blog: In The Pocket

The other night I had the extraordinary opportunity to blow tunes, chat up and basically hang out with the amazing Patti Wicks. To the unfamiliar, Patti is a true wonder of a jazz pianist and vocalist. She honed her chops playing in jazz clubs in New York City and all over the East coast for over thirty years. She currently resides in Florida and is busier than ever. She recently played at Bake’s the last weekend of April. Patti and I had spoken over the phone a few times before she came to Seattle, so there was some sense of familiarity when we finally met in person. It was really a thrill to finally meet in the flesh. Patti is one hip and delightful lady. She’s full of spunk and humor and is instantaneously easy to be around. On Wednesday evenings, Craig has regular, informal sessions, where he sings and tries out new material during the dinner hour at the club. Patti was accompanying Craig on this particular Wednesday, and Craig was kind enough to invite me to sit in with them. Nich Anderson was there. Nich is the force behind the Seattle Jazz Vox concert series, and Patti was staying with him while she was in town.

Patti has a voice that is deep, raspy and beautiful. Her easy and conversational phrasing drew me in immediately. She knows her way around a lyric and she definitely knows how to tell a story. The first tune she played was “I’ve Got the World on A String”. She sang the form, soloed over the form, scatted a little and then launched into an extemporaneous romp all about her day: The trip to Safeway she took Nich, her choice of baked potato soup, which although small was enough to feed plenty and so on. And of course, these ad-libbed lyrics fit the form and melody perfectly. Oh my, Ms. Wicks has a wicked sense of humor. God, she was funny. I was enchanted.

Her playing was equally impressive and mind-blowing. She holds time like I’ve never seen before. She’s a human metronome. And she swings her tail off. Oh my, how she swings! Singing with her was just wonderful. She says she loves accompanying other vocalists, and I believe her. She made a really interesting bed for me and threw out many tasty touches. Perhaps even more notable, she left loads and loads of space. We hung way back. We took our time. Heaven! Musically-speaking, you couldn’t ask for a more generous or playful cohort. Patti is the real deal.

Afterwards, Patti, Nich, Craig and I sat at a table by the stage and talked for an hour or so. It was a memorable conversation. Patti had lots of great stories, and again, she was funny as she could be, The conversation turned slightly philosophical, and for some reason, we got on the subject of ballads. Patti is all about really communicating the lyric and singing from the heart. We talked about her conversational phrasing style. Occasionally, Patti would pop up to the piano to demonstrate a point or show us something hip. Her ease and flow were mesmerizing to me. And she was so much fun. She talked about accompanying different dance groups and demonstrated how she played with them. Obviously, the approach for Ballet Florida was radically different than for the Martha Graham Ensemble. I was completely charmed and thoroughly amused by this. She sat back down at the table. More philosophical musings. Patti seems to have little patience for musicians or artists who work too hard to impress or who go for virtuosity over authenticity. Patti is all about connection, humor and playing from the heart. At the end of the evening, Patti played us her arrangement of “Chopin’s Waltz in C# minor”. It was just lovely. There is no end to what this tiny and unassuming woman can do. Thank God for that.

My night with Patti Wicks was one of the most interesting and joyful experiences that I’ve had in a long, long time. I would love a chance to sing with her again someday. I certainly hope I’ve made a new friend. If nothing else, what a wonderful memory I will always have.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 10:10 pm and is filed under In The Pocket. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.