Robert Hicks was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. At the age of five, he taught himself to play the piano by ear from listening to the 78-rpm records of Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw he had discovered in his grandmother’s attic. Phonograph records were his toys...in lieu of a teddy bear he slept with an album of rumbas. He began singing jazz at the age of eight and began classical and jazz piano study with Gene Confer at age nine. At sixteen he began performing professionally around Portland.
He continued to develop his musical skills while attending University of Oregon with a major in Telecommunications. He studied video production at U.S. International University in San Diego, where he also resumed his classical piano study with Russian born virtuosa Sofia Spiegel, and played for the ceremony in which an Honorary Doctorate was awarded to Jehan Sadat.
From early childhood, Robert’s thoughts were filled mostly with jazz. He had memorized the tunes, the arrangements and the artists who made jazz and the big band era great. It was natural for him to want to work in the entertainment capitol, so he moved to Hollywood, California when he was in his early twenties. After just four weeks, he saw his name in lights when he performed at the Silver Screen Jazz Club on Sunset Boulevard. He shared the stage with Anita O'Day at the Vine St. Bar & Grill, and later with the Bill Holman Big Band in an outdoor concert sponsored by the Playboy Jazz Festival. After three years, the musical momentum culminated with his first of what would be many performance tours of Japan. His composition “That Was The End of Me” was featured in the Columbia Pictures’ release, “Miracle Beach”, which led him to create his own publishing affiliation with BMI, "Jobobal Music". He also went on to compose for television commercials and film, and has appeared in commercials and print ads.
Over a seven year period he performed at many of LA’s top nightclubs and hotels, and it was at the Ritz-Carlton in Pasadena (where he led a quintet four nights a week) that fate brought him together with one of his idols: legendary composer/arranger Pete Rugolo. Robert was in the midst of recording his first CD entitled “New Standards” and Rugolo agreed to write the liner notes. The disc received substantial radio play and rave reviews.
He relocated back to Portland to work in the thriving jazz scene and partake in his love of the great outdoors. From there then went on to conceive, produce, music direct and perform in the concert, “Pete Rugolo Conducts...”, the first ever retrospective of Rugolo’s body of work. The concert took place at the Newmark Theater, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, with Mr. Rugolo conducting the Art Abrams Swing Machine Big Band and featuring vocalist Rebecca Kilgore. The success of that evening inspired his second CD, “Textures in Hi-Fi”, which he recorded back in Los Angeles with Rugolo’s spectacular 19-piece, all-star orchestra. Featured on the disc are such renowned musicians as Conte & Pete Candoli, Buddy Childers, Chuck Flores, Emil Richards, George Roberts, Al Viola, Roy Wiegand & Jack Costanzo (Mr. Bongo). After the CD release concert at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom, Robert and Pete were the headliners of the 20th annual Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, where they performed the album with the Carlton Jackson-Dave Mills Big Band.
He has continued performing his music in such diverse locations as Switzerland, St. Thomas, New York City, San Francisco, Alaska, Singapore, Bali, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Austria, Chengdu, Shanghai & Seoul. He has also starred onstage in “Tru”, the two-act one-man play about Truman Capote, written by Jay Presson Allen and directed by Helena de Crespo for Triangle Productions. Additionally, he was nominated "Best Male Vocalist" by BroadwayWorld.Com for his performance at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan.
Currently Robert is composing and arranging new music, spending time in the recording studio and creating music videos and short films. His jazz/orchestral holiday album "Winter Awhile" was released November 16, 2022, for which he wrote all of the arrangements. He wrote the music, lyrics, arranged & produced the single/EP "There Is A Moose", which was released November 2, 2023. He also directed and edited the "Moose" music video, which is a "Best Music Video" winner from the Santa Barbara International Movie Awards; an IndieFEST Film Festival winner, receiving the "Award of Recognition" for Short Film & Music Video 2024; the award for "Best Editing" by the Vancouver International ShortFest, and "Best Nature/Environment/Wildlife Project" from the Indie Cine Tube Awards in Bengal, among other accolades.
On stage in August of 2024 he reprised the lead role of Adam, which he originated, in the rock and roll musical fantasy "The Last Dragon". The revival was performed at the Winningstad Theatre in Portland.
