Charlie Wood | |
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| Background information | |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboard |
| Labels | Archer Records |
Charlie Wood is an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist whose style draws from a wide range of genres including soul, blues, traditional R&B, jazz and popular music. [1] [2] [3]
Wood’s musical development was first influenced by his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee and then later by New Orleans where, from the age of seventeen, he lived for several years. [4]
In his early twenties, Wood toured the US and Europe as keyboard player for blues guitarist Albert King before returning to Memphis and establishing a residency on the city’s historic Beale Street. This residency lasted for many years, during which time Wood performed with a wide range of musicians including B.B. King, Georgie Fame, Joey DeFrancesco, George Coleman, Mulgrew Miller and Alvin Batiste. [1] [5] [3] Honours received during these years included being awarded the Freedom of the City and a dedicated “Charlie Wood Day” by Memphis City Council, the N.A.R.A.S. “Premier Player Award” for Keyboards and the Beale St. Merchants’ Association Entertainer of the Year” award. [3] [6] [7] [8]
Wood is a prolific recording artist whose first two albums Southbound and Who I Am were released on Ben Sidran's Go Jazz label. These were soon followed by Lucky on Inside Sounds, and Holly-Wood, Somethin' Else and Charlie Wood and the New Memphis Underground on Daddy-O Records. In 2009, Wood signed a multi-album deal with Archer Records ("Flutter and Wow" and "Lush Life") and, since moving to the United Kingdom, he has recorded and released New Souvenirs and Tomorrow Night on Perdido Records. [3] [9] [10] [11] [12]
The majority of Wood's recordings are original compositions which incorporate a wide range of musical styles but primarily soul, blues, jazz and R&B. His lyrics are often characterised by their frankness, wit, wordplay and autobiographical nature. Irma Thomas's recording of one of Wood’s songs, "Never Gonna Stop New Orleans", featured in Harry Shearer’s documentary film. The Big Uneasy. [4] [5] In 2015, Wood's composition “Promised Land” won first prize in the Jazz Category of the USA Songwriting Competition. [13]
In October 2014, Wood became the 136th recipient of a Brass Note on Memphis’s Beale Street. [14] [15]
Wood is now based in Britain and is married to the British jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth. [5]
William Christopher Handy was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musicians who played the distinctively American blues music, Handy did not create the blues genre but was the first to publish music in the blues form, thereby taking the blues from a regional music style with a limited audience to a new level of popularity.
James Luther Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the band Mud Boy and the Neutrons, based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km). It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts frequently bring large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas.
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE, also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he was a music educator and also her music director.
The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group active from the mid-1920s to the late-1950s. The band featured harmonica, kazoo, fiddle and mandolin or banjolin, backed by guitar, piano, washboard, washtub bass and jug. They played slow blues, pop songs, humorous songs and upbeat dance numbers with jazz and string band flavors. The band made the first commercial recordings in Memphis, Tennessee, and recorded more sides than any other prewar jug band.
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Peter John King was an English jazz saxophonist, composer, and clarinettist.
Charlie Burse was an American blues musician, best known for his work with the Memphis Jug Band. His nicknames included "Laughing Charlie," "Uke Kid Burse" and "The Ukulele Kid." The "uke" in his nicknames referred to the first instrument he was known for, the tenor banjo, which was commonly called a "ukulele-banjo" in the South. Later photographs show him with a tenor guitar, a similar instrument that he played in the same tuning.
"Beale Street Blues" is a song by American composer and lyricist W.C. Handy. It was named after Beale Street, a center of African-American music in Memphis, Tennessee, and was published in 1917.
James Govan was an American blues soul singer. His most recent album, I'm in Need, was released in 1996. He had also performed alongside such artists as The Boogie Blues Band and Charlie Wood. Govan had become one of the favorite musicians on Beale Street, known for his cavernous baritone voice. He routinely performed for over two decades at the Rum Boogie Café.
Stanley Ernest Sulzmann is an English jazz saxophonist.
Jacqueline Caryl Dankworth is a British jazz singer. She is the daughter of jazz singer Cleo Laine and musician John Dankworth.
Fred "Sweet Daddy Goodlow" Ford was an American blues and jazz artist, composer, arranger and educator. Ford was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Boss Fred Ford and Nancy Taylor Ford.
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Ruby Wilson was an American blues and gospel singer and actress. She was known as "The Queen of Beale Street" as she sang in clubs on Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, for over 40 years. She had a successful touring and recording career, and appeared in a number of films.
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