Nicki arrived in New York in May 1994 on an Arts Council grant from Australia to study with the internationally acclaimed bassist, Rufus Reid. Since June 2000, Nicki has played on Monday nights at the Iridium Jazz Club with the legendary guitarist and inventor, Les Paul. Nicki and her sister, Lisa Parrott headlined at the prestigious Tribute to Mary Lou Williams festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in May 2002, which was broadcast on National Public Radio. She is also the resident bassist with the Kitchen House Blend which premieres and performs new music by New York composers.
Since coming to New York she has performed with such notable musicians as Clark Terry, Michel Legrand, Billy Taylor, Dick Hyman, Terri Thornton, Holly Hoffman, Diva, Marlena Shaw, Monica Mancini, Patrice Rushen, Skitch Henderson, the New York Pops Orchestra, Florida Pops Orchestra, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Warren Vache, Jr., Harry Allen, Red Holloway, Rebecca Paris, Kenny Davern, José Feliciano, Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Bernard Purdie, John Tropea, David Krakauer, Howard Alden, Randy Sandke, Greg Osby, Jack Wilkins, Ken Peplowski, Johnny Frigo, Joe Wilder, Houston Person, Wycliffe Gordon, Rachel Z and Johnny Varro. 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 such major festivals in the USA as 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. Overseas, she has 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, and various Australian festivals.
Background
Born in Newcastle, Australia, Nicki 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 because her sister Lisa, who plays alto sax, wanted a bassist for her group. 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 is also the recipient of two awards, the first being a scholarship to Pan Pacific Music Camps at the age of 16, and first place in the 1992 Jazz Action Society’s Annual Song Competition for her composition "Come and Get It", which is the opening track of Nicki and Lisa’s debut CD. She was also nominated for the annual Australian Young Achievers Award by the Arts Council of Australia who granted her the funds to head to New York to study with Rufus Reid.
www.nickiparrott.com
Under Paris Skies
Nicki Parrott Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Try to be smart and don't let your heart catch on fire
Love becomes king the moment it's Spring under Paris skies
Lonely hearts meet somewhere on the street of desire
Parisian love can bloom high in a skylight room
Or in a gay café where hundreds of people can see
Don't ever be a heartbroken stranger like me
Oh, I fell in love
Yes, I was a fool
For Paris can be so beautifully cruel
Paris is just a gay coquette who wants to love and then forget
Stranger beware, there's love in the air
Just look and see what happened to me under Paris skies
Watch what you do, the same thing can happen to you
Ooh, I fell in love
Yes, I was a fool
For Paris can be so beautifully cruel
Paris can be a gay coquette who wants to love and then forget
Stranger beware, there's love in the air
Just look and see what happened to me under Paris skies
Watch what you do, the same thing can happen to you
Nicki Parrott’s song “Under Paris Skies” is a song about love and the risks involved when falling in love in a city like Paris. The song is an cautionary tale to those who might be visiting the city for the first time and might fall prey to the city's romantic veneer. The lyrics, "Stranger beware, there's love in the air under Paris skies," warn listeners that love is a common occurrence in the city and that it's possible to be easily swept off your feet without taking precautions. The lyrics "Try to be smart and don't let your heart catch on fire" suggests that listeners should keep a clear head and not be led by their passions.
The lyrics describe how Paris is a city where love is abundant and that it can happen any time of the year but is especially prevalent in the Springtime when the city is reborn. The lyrics "Love becomes king the moment it's Spring under Paris skies" suggests that this is the time of year when the city is most alive and where the greatest chance of meeting someone special can happen. The song goes on to describe how lonely hearts can meet on the streets of desire and how Parisian love can bloom in high skylight rooms or in gay cafes where the whole world can see.
Finally, the song's lyrics become personal with the singer confessing that she fell in love in Paris and was heartbroken. She advises the listener to "watch what you do" because the same thing can happen to them.
Line by Line Meaning
Stranger beware, there's love in the air under Paris skies
Be careful when you're in Paris, there's love all around
Try to be smart and don't let your heart catch on fire
Be smart and avoid falling in love too easily
Love becomes king the moment it's Spring under Paris skies
When spring arrives, love rules Paris
Lonely hearts meet somewhere on the street of desire
Paris is full of lonely people looking for love
Parisian love can bloom high in a skylight room
Love can happen anywhere in Paris, even in a room with a skylight
Or in a gay café where hundreds of people can see
Love can also happen in a busy café with lots of people around
I wasn't smart and I lost my heart under Paris skies
I wasn't careful and fell in love in Paris
Don't ever be a heartbroken stranger like me
Don't make the same mistake as me and end up heartbroken
Oh, I fell in love
I fell in love
Yes, I was a fool
I was foolish
For Paris can be so beautifully cruel
Paris can be both beautiful and cruel
Paris is just a gay coquette who wants to love and then forget
Paris is like a flirtatious woman who loves and forgets easily
Just look and see what happened to me under Paris skies
Look at what happened to me in Paris
Watch what you do, the same thing can happen to you
Be careful, the same thing can happen to you
Contributed by Henry F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Anonymous
on Walk On By
Walk On By - Nicki Parrott - Lyrics
If you see me walkin' down the street
And I start to cry each time we meet
Walk on by
Walk on by
Make believe that you don't see the tears
Just let me grieve in private 'cause each time I see you
I break down and cry
Walk on by
Just walk on by
Walk on by
I just can't get over losin' you
And so if I seem, broken and blue
Walk on by
Walk on by
Foolish pride, that's all that I have left
So let me hide the tears and the sadness you gave me
When you said goodbye
So walk on by
Walk on by
Just walk on by
Musical Interlude
Foolish pride, that's all that I have left
So let me hide the tears and the sadness you gave me
When you said goodbye
So walk on by
Walk on by
Now you really gotta go, so walk on by
Baby, leave, you'll never see the tears I cry
Walk on by
Anonymous
on Blue Christmas
I'm Glad There Is You - Nicki Parrott - Lyrics
Said I many times, love is an illusion,
A feeling, result of confusion.
With knowing smile and blaise sigh,
A cynical so-and-so was I!
I feel so secure, so positive,
So utterly unchangingly certain,
That I never was aware of loving you
Till suddenly I realized there was love and you,
And all;
In this world of ordinary people,
Extraordinary people,
I'm glad there is you.
In this world of overrated pleasures,
And underrated treasures,
I'm so glad there is you.
I live to love,
I love to live
With you beside me.
This road so new
I'll muddle through
With you to guide me.
In this world where many many play at love,
And hardly any stay in love,
I'm glad there is you.
More than ever,
I'm glad there is you.
Musical Interlude
In this world where many many play at love,
And hardly any stay in love,
I'm glad there is you.
More than ever,
I'm glad there is you.
Anonymous
on I Love Paris
Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White - Nicki Parrott - Lyrics
It's cherry pink and apple blossom white
When your true lover comes your way
It's cherry pink and apple blossom white
The poets say
The story goes that once a cherry tree
Beside an apple tree did grow
And there a boy once met his
Bride to be
Long, long ago
The boy looked into her eyes
What a sight to enthroll
The breezes joined in their sighs
The blossoms started to fall
And as they gently caressed
The lovers looked up to find
The branches of the two trees
Were intertwined
And that is why the poets always write
If there's a new moon bright above
It's cherry pink and apple blossom white
When you're in love
Musical Interlude
The boy looked into her eyes
It was a sight to enthroll
The breezes joined in their sighs
The blossoms started to fall
And as they gently caressed
The lovers looked up to find
The branches of the two trees
Were intertwined
And that is why the poets always write
If there's a new moon bright above
It's cherry pink and apple blossom white
When you're in love