[2] There, he attended Sumner High School[7] and played in schoolmate Lester Bowie's band, the Continentals,[8] which performed in a variety of musical styles.

[9] Hicks cited influences "from Fats Waller to Thelonious Monk to Methodist church hymns",[4] as well as local pianists.

[2] He was initially interested in the blues-based compositions of Horace Silver and popular songs such as "I Got Rhythm" and "There Will Never Be Another You", for their easily recognised harmonies.

[10] Hicks worked summer gigs in the southern United States with blues musicians Little Milton and Albert King.

[2] In 1963 he was also part of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders' first band,[13] and appeared on CBC Television backing vocalist Jimmy Witherspoon.

[18] He stayed with Blakey for two years,[2] during which time his playing was compared with that of McCoy Tyner, for the level of energy displayed and for some of the intervals that they used.

[19] In the period 1965 to 1967, Hicks worked on and off with vocalist Betty Carter;[20] her liking for slow ballads helped him develop his sense of time.

[2] Hicks also began recording as a sideman with a wide range of leaders – in the 1960s these included Booker Ervin, Hank Mobley, and Lee Morgan – a trend that continued for the remainder of his career.

[24] The session resulted in two albums – the trio Hells Bells, with bassist Clint Houston and drummer Cliff Barbaro, and the solo piano Steadfast[24] – that were released by Strata-East Records several years later.

[2] During the 1980s, was a sideman for Richie Cole (1980), Arthur Blythe (In the Tradition), David Murray, Hamiet Bluiett, Art Davis, and Pharoah Sanders; recording with as Ricky Ford (1980, 1982), Alvin Queen (1981), Peter Leitch (1984), Herring (1986), and Bobby Watson (1986, 1988).

[5] He recorded two albums in Japan in 1988 – the trio East Side Blues and the quartet Naima's Love Song, with altoist Bobby Watson added.

[45] There were also more dates as a sideman for Murray, Leitch, Blythe, Freeman, and Roy Hargrove (1989–90, 1995), Bartz (1990), Lake (1991), Steve Marcus and Valery Ponomarev (both 1993), Nick Brignola, Russell Gunn, and Kevin Mahogany (all 1994), the Mingus Big Band (c1995), Fortune (1996), and Jimmy Ponder (1997).

[52][53] Over the last decade or so of Hicks life, he recorded several collaborations with Elise Wood to mixed reviews (Single Petal of a Rose, Trio & Strings, Beautiful Friendship).

[57] In the view of AllMusic reviewer Michael G. Nastos, "Hicks died before reaping the ultimate rewards and high praise he deserved".

"[60] Hicks had a style of his own, containing a "combination of irresistible creativity and responsiveness [...] encompassing swing, hard bop and the avant garde, and made him a first-call choice for many of the most important American modern jazz groups".

[2] A reviewer of a 1993 release, Lover Man: A Tribute to Billie Holiday, commented that Hicks "mastered the technique of shaping a piano chord so it sounds like the rising and falling of a breath".

[61] A few years later, another reviewer highlighted the "subtle dynamic shadings" of Hicks's left hand, and his "reverence for melody and a sense of musical destination that gives form to his improvisations.

[57] He "enjoyed writing arrangements for a quintet or sextet, often, like the finest jazz composers, tailoring parts to specific musicians.

In the past, these have included artists of the caliber of Bobby Watson and Vincent Herring; more recently he has been working with Javon Jackson and Elise [Wood]".