Charlie Wood is a talented and versatile singer, songwriter and keyboardist
whose eclectic musical style ranges from blues to jazz to
r&b and all points in between. Born in Memphis, TN in
1967, Charlie studied classical piano from an early age and
jazz piano in high school and college. He spent 1990 on the
road as keyboardist for legendary blues guitarist Albert
King, with whom he toured the U.S. and Europe. He has also
performed and recorded with numerous other regional and
national acts, has worked as composer and musical director
for local theatre groups and independent filmmakers, and has
played and sung on countless jingles and album
projects.
For the past several years the Charlie Wood Trio, consisting of Charlie on piano, Hammond B-3, pedal bass and
vocals, Renardo Ward on drums, and Gerard Harris (formerly of Kool and the Gang) on guitar - have been performing
nightly at the King's Palace Cafe on Beale
Street. During their tenure at the Palace such musical luminaries as
B.B. King, George Coleman, Alvin Batiste, Tony Reedus, Rufus
Thomas, Georgie Fame and others have stopped by to sit in
and play with the band. On a recent tour in England, Robert
Plant joined Charlie onstage to sing five or six of his
favorite Memphis r&b classics.
Charlie has been nominated Premier Keyboard Player in Memphis every
year since 1997 as part of the N.A.R.A.S. Premier Player
Awards (in 2001 he was also nominated Premier Male Vocalist)
and currently serves on the N.A.R.A.S Board of Governors. He
has toured extensively in Europe and the U.K. to promote his
original music and has performed on television and radio
programs across the continent. Wood is also an accomplished
songwriter with two original CDs, Southbound and Who I
Am, produced by Daddy-O Records (and currently in release on Ben
Sidran's GoJazz label) and a third original CD on the
way.
The local Memphis daily, The Commercial Appeal, featured Charlie on the
cover of their Playbook entertainment guide in February '98,
along with a page one article about the Charlie Wood Trio
on Beale Street. The paper had already published a feature
article on Charlie and his music when he was just seventeen
years old, calling him "ten different people in one." Bill
Ellis (music reviewer for the C.A.) began his October '96
review of Southbound by saying
simply, "Jazz organ has a name in Memphis, and it's Charlie
Wood."
|