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John Hicks was born in Atlanta 1941 as son of a Methodist minister and received his first piano lessons from his mother at a very young age. Later he studied at various universities and colleges, among them also the famous Berklee College in Boston. 1963 he moved to New York and since then is so firmly established among the most in-demand, prolific jazz pianists and composers on the recording and live appearance scenes, critics seem to have permanently affixed the adjective "ubiquitous" to his name. As a leader or first-call sideman, playing inside the chord or outside, presenting sparkling ballads or burning up the keyboard at torrid tempos, Hicks is as versatile as he is omnipresent. John's varied influences include Fats Waller piano rolls, Methodist church music, George Gershwin and bebop, and among his musical mentors were such immortals as Lucky Thompson, Miles Davis and Clark Terry. Hicks played road gigs with blues legends Little Milton and Albert King, and jazz greats Johnny Griffin, Al Grey and Pharoah Sanders before he arrived in New York. Kenny Dorham, Lou Donaldson, and Joe Henderson were his stations before he became regular member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. After that period he could play and work with anybody in the scene and one finds his name in connection with Betty Carter, Woody Herman, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Frank Foster, and many others. The list of recordings that he leads and where he is the featured pianist is endless. The past 15 years have seen an increasing focus on solo work, duos and trios. In all these realms, he has brought together outstanding musicians, all whom share with him excellence in the creation and delivery of the universal language. Among those with whom he works are: Ray Drummond, Walter Booker, Idris Muhammad, Victor Lewis and Marvin Smitty Smith.