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As early as she can remember, Nicki Parrott has been drawn to the voice of Peggy Lee. Hailing from New South Wales, Australia, Parrott grew up constantly listening to classical music and started playing piano before she was 5 years old. She added the flute to her repertoire a few years later and began joining concert bands at school. Her older sister, also a musician, had a habit of bringing home Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker records. It didn’t take long for both girls to cultivate a love for jazz. Playing clarinet and saxophone, Parrott’s sister started a band and asked her younger sister if she’d be interested in playing bass.

“We had grown up playing music together and I wanted to be part of everything,” Parrott recalls. “I never even thought about the bass. Then I brought it home from school. It only had three strings on it, but I didn’t think that was a problem at the time. There was a guy across the street who played. I started to develop a good ear. I copied bass players on record and fell in love with the bass pretty quickly.”

The Aussie’s vocal talents did not emerge until some time later, after her bass talent had been widely discovered and she was regularly performing with the late great Les Paul.

Parrott had been a Monday night mainstay with Paul at New York City’s Club Iridium when one evening he stopped her point blank in the middle of a set and suggested she start singing.

“He stopped me in the middle of a bass solo on stage and said, ‘is that all you’re going to do is play the bass?’ I had never sung in public,” Parrott says.

Nonetheless, she launched into Ella Fitzgerald’s “Deed I do” that night and her vocal career was born.

“He pressured me to do it, but then I fell in love with it,” Parrott says. “He seemed to have a lot of faith. You never knew what to expect with Les. He was always in the moment. He thought it was funny to catch me in the middle of a bass solo. He loved to be funny. He was all about the show.”

One major hit that became part of “the show” was Peggy Lee’s “Fever.”

“She was one of the first voices that really struck home for me,” Parrott says of Lee. “I started to try to find new ways to do some of her classics. What I found interesting about her is how much of a musician she was. She was a composer – she composed a lot of songs – not many singers compose their own songs. She was a great performer with a very unique, sassy style. I always loved her voice. She had a wonderful delivery, with this cool, understated way of singing.”

It’s not just Lee’s classics that Parrott focuses on in her Peggy Lee tribute performances. She also taps into some of the legendary vocalist’s more obscure numbers. Sing-a-longs are not out of the question, either, just so you know.

“I like to have a varied repertoire,” Parrott says. “The audience is going to know some songs, but they won’t know every song. I want to enlighten them about facts and songs they might not have heard. Above all, I want people to enjoy themselves.”

In addition to being part of the legendary Les Paul Trio for a number of years, Parrott has shared the stage with Clark Terry, Patti Labelle, Bucky Pizzarelli and countless other greats. She has composed recording and collaborated on nearly 30 albums, performed in major jazz festivals across the world and played in Broadway ensembles.

Nicki Parrott’s Tribute to Peggy Lee

Vail Jazz Club Series

Aug. 8

Internationally heralded vocalist and bass player Nicki Parrott returns to Ludwig’s Terrace at The Sonnenalp for a pair of intimate performances featuring Peggy Lee classics and more. She’s joined by Eric Gunnison on piano, Paul Romaine on drums and Vail Jazz favorite Ken Peplowski on clarinet. Doors for the first seating open at 5 p.m. with performance beginning at 5:30. Doors for the second seating are at 7:30 p.m. with music starting at 8 p.m. Tickets at $40. Full dinner service is available, not included in ticket cost and a $30 per person food or beverage minimum applies. Find tickets here.

Vail Jazz @ Vail Square

Aug. 9

The quartet bring its Tribute to Peggy Lee to the big stage for a multimedia performance in the Jazz Tent at Lionshead’s Vail Square at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 9. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $40 for preferred seat and $50 for premium seats. Beer, wine and cocktails are available for purchase. Find tickets here.

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