Born in Newcastle, Australia, Nicki started her musical training at age four with the piano and flute. Nicki switched to double bass at the age of 15. After graduating high school she moved to Sydney to study jazz at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music where she was granted funds by the Arts Council to study in New York with Rufus Reid.
Nicki was bassist and vocalist for the legendary Les Paul for over 10 years. As part of the Les Paul Trio, Nicki worked side-by-side with guitar greats from Paul McCartney, Steve Miller to fellow Aussie, Tommy Emmanuel.
In addition, she performed in several Broadway shows and at most of the world's top jazz venues and festivals including The Jazz Cruise and sold-out performances at Birdland and Dizzy’s in NYC. Nicki has performed with such jazz greats as Clark Terry, Joe Wilder, Scott Hamilton, Bucky Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Michel Legrand, Houston Person and Arif Mardin, to name just a few.
Nicki recently returned home to Australia where she still tours the globe and records, with her latest album, Feelin’ Groovy (Arbors), a retrospective and reimagining of songs from the 60s. She has recorded over two dozen vocal records for Venus Records (Japan), Arbors Records (USA) and Ooroo Records (USA/AU).