John Hicks was an American jazz pianist and composer. He backed singer Della Reese during a 1963 New York club residency and signed on with singer Betty Carter in 1966. Hicks spent the remainder of the 1960s with Woody Herman. In the early 1970s, he taught jazz and improvisation at Southern Illinois University. Hicks released the albums Hicks Time: Solo Piano, Solid! featuring Idris Muhammad and George Mraz, and Sweet Love of Mine. His most popular songs include Four, After the Morning, and The Things We Did Last Summer.