Charlie Wood is a talented and versatile singer, songwriter and keyboardist whose eclectic musical style incorporates elements of popular music, jazz, blues and traditional r&b. 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.
For several years the Charlie Wood Trio performed nightly at the King's Palace Café on Beale Street. During their tenure at the Palace such musical luminaries as Rufus Thomas, B.B. King, George Coleman, Joey DeFrancesco, Alvin Batiste, Tony Reedus, Georgie Fame and many others 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's work has earned him numerous musical accolades, including the N.A.R.A.S. "Premier Player Award" for Keyboards and the Beale St. Merchants' Association "Entertainer of the Year" award. 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 several original CDs under his belt, including "Southbound" and "Who I Am" on Ben Sidran's GoJazz label and "Somethin' Else" on Daddy-O Records. Now signed to Archer Records in Memphis, Charlie has recently recorded his label debut, "Flutter and Wow," at Archer’s Music + Arts studio. The record was produced by guitarist and friend Adam Levy (Norah Jones, Tracey Chapman, Sex Mob), who managed to “strip away all the non-essential elements in my performances and help me convey the real message of the song,” says Wood. The album also features the work of some of Memphis' best rhythm and horn players and compositions by Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Ron Sexsmith, Paul Simon and Tom Waits, in addition to seven new Charlie Wood songs.
The album is available online and will be distributed domestically by RED (Sony) and in the UK by Proper. As well as touring to be scheduled in the United States, Charlie will continue to tour internationally, with dates planned for the UK and Europe in the summer/autumn of 2009.
