European critics are more epistemologically critical. Their brains must come to a steamy position and their intellectual musicality must roar with every breath of the singer and each note that flirts on stage or on an album. To capture their attention and be written up by those delightfully perplex and complex European "seigneurs de la plume" you must be out of the ordinary, you got to have this extra-ordinary presence and extreme talent. One American singer-pianist got the best out of them and anchored their heads under her hat, her own hat! She is Patti Wicks. An international musical-vocal sensation. A phenomenon. True, very true, maestra Wicks is not the only American artist who made headlines in Europe. Barbara Cook and L. Dallas shacked and baked London, but Helas! they were forgotten, a few months later. Patti Wicks is still in the news in Europe. Madonna drives the French crazy. But Madonna is seen by the French as a pop culture expression. Wicks is perceived as a musical-vocal wealth. Janice Joplin remains an icon in Europe thanks to one single song written by Kris Kristofferson "Me and Bobby McGee". Patti Wicks lives daily in the heart and mind of her American and European audiences. "An extraordinary interpreter, Patti reminds us over and over again that she is above all, a jazz musician,  capable of both, accompanying herself  as well as taking instrumental solos that utilize a wide spectrum of dynamics and colors.", wrote  Massimo Tarabelli in  Ancona Jazz. In Il Cittadino,  Fabio Francione wrote about one of Wicks' CD: " The record is a real gem that deserves a wide audience and should appeal to everyone, not just jazz connoisseurs."

In the cosmos of music,  Jazz  and cabaret singers, there is a very particular group of shining stars that will never fade away, superb artists like Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Nina Simone, Gabriella Ferri, Edith Piaf, Marinella, Claire Martin, Oum Kalthoum, Ismahan (Asmahan), Amalia Rodriguez, Sarita Montiel, Barb Jungr, Julie London, Ute Lemper, Carol Sloane, unfortunately Zarah Leander, Mina and Patti Wicks.

The New York Times' John Wilson wrote about Wicks: "Her music is full bodied, vigorously rhythmic and has a strong feel for structure, dynamics and melodic essence." And Joe E. Siegel stated: "A world-class singer-pianist in the tradition of Nat King Cole, Blossom  Dearie, and Shirley Horn." Continues on page 25