Nichaud Fitzgibbon

Nichaud was born in the small country town of Wycheproof in North Western Victoria. Known for its "King of the Mountain" potato sack race, Nichaud is now its most famous export. Her mother, Faye Hommelhoff, grew up there and comes from a family with Danish and French heritage. Nichaud is a fourth generation performer and it goes without saying that as a member of the renowned jazz and showbiz Fitzgibbon family, music is in her fiesty Irish blood.

At an early age Nichaud was surrounded by music of the 20s and 30s that played nightly at the club run by her father Smacka Fitzgibbon. The beloved Australian jazz musician and entertainer started his career playing banjo with Graeme Bell and Len and Bob Barnard. Smacka's Place was to become Melbourne's most famous jazz club in the 1970's. Grandmother Minnie was a 'soubrette' - a child performer in vaudeville. She was also a wonderful stride pianist who encouraged Nichaud and her three brothers to play music. Nichaud's aunt, Maggie Fitzgibbon, started her career as a soprano in the Tivoli theatre and then moved to London to star on television and in West End musicals. Nichaud's brother Mark is one of Australia's finest jazz pianists and is her collaborator and musical director.

Nichaud's musical destiny can not only be put down to a natural family inheritance but also to the fact she was lucky enough to sit on Louis Armstrong 's knee at the age of three! Smacka and his band were there to greet Pop's at the airport when he first came to Australia. Nichaud's earliest memory of music was hearing her mother playing a Billie Holiday record and the song she loved most was 'What A Little Moonlight'. Her father's record collection was a big influence. She listened to the sounds of The Boswell sisters, Louis Armstrong, Al Bowly and The Chocolate Dandies and later developed her style while listening to Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.

Nichaud started performing with her brother Mark in the early '80s and worked at all the regular jazz venues and festivals around town. Vince Jones gave Nichaud her first television appearance when he invited her to be his special guest on 'The Don Burrow's Jazz Series' for the ABC. In 1985 Nichaud moved to London and during her three year stay performed at various clubs and festivals, a highlight being an impromptu performance with legendary tenor saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders at Ronnie Scott's jazz club. After returning to Melbourne in 1988 and working with various bands she formed 'Yoyo' an original funk band with trumpeter Gavin Cornish and her brother Andrew the drummer in the family. For the next three years the Yoyo Thursday night gig became an institution at The Esplande Hotel in St. Kilda. An invitation to work with Australian rock star James Reyne gave Nichaud the opportunity to join his national tour as backing vocalist. She then worked extensively on television shows including The Big Gig series on the ABC and Tonight Live with Steve Vizard under the musical direction of Paul Grabowsky. Nichaud has also appeared on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton and the ABC's The Pulse jazz series which showcased Australia's finest jazz artists live in concert.

During the '90s Nichaud became a founding member of the sixteen piece bigband The Moovin' and Groovin' Orchestra lead by arrangers Gavin Cornish and Ken Schroder. She worked with popular bands including R&B outfit The Swinging Sidewalks, The Gospel Soul Train, Ladysoul-60s soul revue and started the band So Nice with Jane Clifton. So Nice celebrated the music of Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66 and songs by Burt Bacharach.

Nichaud was given an amazing opportunity to work with The Australian Ballet Company in Stanton Welsh's production when she sang 'Someone to Watch over me' at The Victorian State Theatre. Nichaud also performed 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' with James Morrison, Venetta Fields and Shelley Scown for 'The Australia Remembers Concert' which was televised nation wide live from The Palais Theatre St Kilda.

Barry Humphries commissioned her to sing three Gershwin compositions - Feeling Sentimental, Sweet and Low Down and I Was Doing Alright for his collection of Rare Songs Vol 2. Released in 2000. The Victorian Arts Centre invited Nichaud to perform as part of a special tribute - The Great Jazz Singers Concert. Performing songs made famous by Ella Fitzgerald with arrangements by Graeme Lyall featuring a 10 piece ensemble playing to 12,000 jazz fans at the Myer Music Bowl.

In 2001 Nichaud released her debut cd After Hours which received rave reviews showcasing her talent from swing to bossa featuring arrangements by Ken Schroder with performances by some of Melbourne's jazz elite.

During the last few years Nichaud has been involved in a variety of projects. She was especially commissioned by Abracadabra Films to sing Manha de Carnaval in Portuguese, accompanied by guitarist Doug DeVries, for a documentary filmed in East Timor called Birth of a Nation - Rosa's Story. She co-wrote the song Dearly Beloved for the soundtrack of the Australian film Trojan Warrior produced by Triple 3 Films. As well as performing in mini musicals directed by Toni Bartuccio for Show Stoppers at Crown Casino. She has been a regular performer for The Victorian Arts Centre's Morning Melodies series at The Melbourne Concert Hall with tributes to Peggy Lee, Doris Day and Smacka Fitzgibbon. The Peggy Lee tributes were also performed for The Melbourne International Jazz Festival and for The Melbourne International Arts Festival at The Famous Spiegeltent (the world's most prestigious cabaret venue). Show less