December 21, 1942 – May 10, 2006
By Chris King
Of the St. Louis American
Rich Henderson, president of the local musical heritage organization Crusaders for Jazz, had something in common with much of the jazz world yesterday.
He had a difficult time speaking, even thinking.
On Wednesday morning, May 10, 2006, the great jazz pianist John Hicks, who spent his formative years in St. Louis, passed away in New York City. He was 64.
At press time, the cause of death was unknown.
Henderson had received a call Tuesday night from Hicks’ daughter, Naima (who was named for a John Coltrane composition), informing him that they were rushing her father to St. Vincent’s Hospital. He was suffering from internal bleeding.
“He was so thoughtful, such a beautiful person,” Henderson said of Hicks, whom he first met at a long-forgotten North Side lounge, El Patio, in the late ‘50s.
Henderson was struggling to speak.
“It just got to me.”
As Henderson remembered his departed friend, who played St. Louis many times under the auspices of Henderson’s organization, Hicks’ music was playing on WSIE. Ross Gentile, who had received the sad news from Henderson that morning, was dedicating his afternoon “Standards in Jazz” show to the legend we have lost.
“I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with John and his lovely wife, Elise,” Gentile said.
“He had such a passion for music. He was one of the most inspirational pianists I have ever seen, and he had such a lovely personality. God, he’s going to be missed.”
James Carter, a young saxophonist from Detroit, had the privilege of touring with Hicks, both as a sideman and leader, and Hicks played on Carter’s most recent studio effort, Gardenias for Lady Day.
“He was a real cool cat, cracking jokes, enjoying the ability to get with some musical comrades, confab and jam,” Carter said, of touring with Hicks in Japan and on the West Coast.
“But when it came time to hit, he had his professionalism. He was somebody you could definitely get your groove with, on and offstage.”
Of Hicks’ playing, Carter said, “There were certain nuances he could give you, very soulful and economic – at times. When he got a good vibe going, his fingers went a-flying and it would happen, a yippety yap!”
John Josephus Hicks Jr. was born in Atlanta on December 21, 1941. He spent his early childhood in Los Angeles. He began piano lessons with his mother at age 6, and by the time his family moved to St. Louis when John was 13, he was already playing for the choir and for Sunday School at the church where his father was minister.
Visitors to the senior Hicks’ church in St. Louis included Erroll Garner, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Hicks Sr. wrote a column for the St. Louis Argus.
In Sumner High School, he became active in the band and choir, with impressively musical schoolmates including Phillip Wilson and Lester Bowie. He also woodshedded locally with John Chapman, Sonny Hamp, Willie Akins and Johnny Mixon, who he counted among his lifelong idols even though he came to perform with luminaries.
Hicks attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City and Berklee College of Music in Boston before moving to New York in the early 1960’s.
“In New York, John sat with all the old masters,” Henderson said. “He went to Bradley’s, where all the great players gathered, guys like Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones.”
Hicks launched into a career that would see him take the piano with an astonishing range of leaders, from bluesmen Little Milton and Albert King, to a jazz who’s who of our time: Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Woody Herman, Pharaoh Sanders, Ron Carter, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Freddie Hubbard, Oliver Nelson, David Murray, Jay McShann, Oliver Lake, Lester Bowie, Grant Green – the list could be extended.
His discography, as a leader and sideman, recording for Strata East, Theresa, Limetree, DIW, Timeless, Red Baron, Concord, Evidence, Novus, Reservoir, Mapleshade, Landmark and other labels, is equally vast and rich.
“He was always nurturing, always looking ahead,” Carter said of Hicks’ playing.
“But he was still a Rock of Gibraltar in terms of fundamentals, basics, keeping the vibe, the musical conversation going, with the intent of imparting musical knowledge. And, at the same time, not showboating.”
Henderson said, “He paid tribute to everybody – Earl Garner, Billy Strayhorn, Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines. He was always keeping alive a legacy.”
“He was so gracious in his lifetime, doing tribute to Sonny Clark, Mary Lou Williams, Art Blakey,” Gentile said.
“I hope musicians coming up take time do what he did and pay tribute to him.”
Henderson said Hicks is survived by his daughter, Naima Hicks of Atlanta; his wife, Elise Woods of New York; a son, Jamil Hicks; his ex-wife, Olympia George of Atlanta; and jazz musicians and listeners everywhere.
Funeral arrangements were not available at press time, but Henderson said as recently as Sunday Hicks had performed at his father’s former church, St. Mark’s in Harlem, a likely site for his final services.
