When Carrie Wicks steps onto the stage, her shy, demure manner gives you the impression that she just came from her day job as a librarian. Then she counts her band off, closes her eyes, and proceeds to mellifluously swing her butt off, unassumingly drawing the audience in all the while. Her tone puts to mind the perfect glass of earthy, red wine coupled with the most luxurious piece of dark chocolate at the end of a long day. At ease and unhurried, she meanders in and out of a medium swing, taking notice of every detail, seemingly to lag a mile behind the beat to examine the intricacies of an embellished chord, only to magically appear right in time without missing a step.
During her first vocal jazz workshop, over a decade ago, Ms. Wicks had a lightbulb moment and has continued to pursue her passion for the study of vocal jazz since then with the finest jazz musicians from Seattle and beyond. She has performed at Cafe Campagne, Lottie's Lounge, Egan's, Lucid, St. Cloud's, 611 Supreme, the Sorrento Hotel as well as Tula's, Columbia City Theater, and the Triple Door.