Charenee Wade is an American jazz, soul and R&B singer, composer, arranger, improvisor, and educator.

Early life

Charenee Wade was born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States and began singing at the age of 12. She participated in the

Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative inter ...

's Jazz Ahead Program performing her original music at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. She participated in the

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

Artists Workshop at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in New York City. Wade was selected for the JAS Academy Summer Sessions as a young artist in 2007-2009 which was directed by

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

. Her earlier influences in music was

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

and

Career

Wade is an international and national performer. She is well studied in jazz and classical music. She has performed at the Jazz Gallery, Zinc Bar, Lincoln Center's Dizzy Coca-Cola's, Smalls in New York City. Her debut album was Love Walked In which was released in 2010. Wade has been a featured singer in many trios, big bands, etc., being featured on the Grammy nominated Big Band Urban Folktales and double Grammy nominated Multiverse CDs with the Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band, to a 100-piece Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra. She has studied with

Carmen Lundy Carmen Latretta Lundy (born November 1, 1954) is an American jazz singer. She has been performing for three decades, with a focus on original material. She has been positively compared with Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Lu ...

, Peter Eldridge, Bob Stewart, Miles Griffith, Lenora Zenzailai Helm,

Luciana Souza Luciana Souza (born 12 July 1966) is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who also works in classical and chamber music. Her song ''Muita Bobeira'' was featured as a music sample on Windows Vista. Music career Grammy winner Luciana Souza is one ...

Cecil Bridgewater Cecil Bridgewater (born October 10, 1942) is an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Bridgewater was born in Urbana, Illinois and studied at the University of Illinois. He and brother Ron formed the Bridgewater Brothers Band in 1969, and in the 197 ...

, Pamela Baskin-Watson. Wade has performed at Festival du Riou, the

Montreaux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

, and the Ascona New Orleans Jazz Festival. She opened for

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in 2003. She was on tour with the Oleg Butman Trio performing at various venues in Moscow, and the Province Jazz Festival in Orenburg. In 2004, she performed with

Rufus Reid Rufus Reid (born February 10, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer. Biography Reid was raised in Sacramento, California, where he played the trumpet through junior high and high school. Upon graduation ...

the bassist-composer. Her second album is a tribute to the work of

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician ...

, and is titled the “Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson”. It was released on the

Motéma Music Motéma Music is a jazz and world music record label in the United States. It was founded in 2003 in San Francisco Bay Area. This record label’s catalog spans genres, cultures, and generations and has received Grammy recognition for over twen ...

label. The album features

, Lakecia Benjamin,

Dave Stryker Dave Stryker (born March 30, 1957) is an American jazz guitarist. He has recorded over twenty-five albums as a leader and has been a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany. Career Stryker grew up in Omaha, Nebr ...

Stefon Harris Stefon DeLeon Harris (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz vibraphonist. Biography A native of Albany, New York, Harris intended to work for the New York Philharmonic until he heard the music of Charlie Parker. During the 1990s he recorded ...

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

Malcolm-Jamal Warner Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'', which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series a ...

. She has been a guest vocalist on album releases by

Tia Fuller Tia Fuller (born March 27, 1976) is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator, and a member of the all-female band touring with Beyoncé. Fuller is currently a faculty member in the ensembles department at Berklee College of Music. Fulle ...

, Eric Reed, and the Eyal Vilner Big Band. 2014 - December to January 2015 - Starred alongside

Cyrille Aimée Cyrille Aimée (; born August 10, 1984) is a French jazz singer. Biography She grew up in the French town of Samois-sur-Seine, in Fontainebleau, France. Her father is French and her mother is from the Dominican Republic. She won the '' Montre ...

Allan Harris Allan Harris (28 December 1942 – 23 November 2017) was a footballer who played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers. His brother Ron was also a professional footballer. Harris was a full-back and began his career with Chelsea ...

and an eight-piece band including saxophonist Camille Thurman and bassist Mimi Jones in Alex Webb (musician)'s jazz theatre show ''Cafe Society Swing'' at New York's

59E59 Theaters 59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in New York City that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by ...

, attracting positive reviews including a Critic's Pick from

the New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. 2015 - October - Special guest vocalist with the Rob Garcia Sextet tribute to the music of

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

. 2017 - August - Charlie Parker Jazz Festival with the Lee Konitz Quartet / Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science / Louis Hayes / Charenee Wade. Artists who have performed with her band & artists she has performed with; Brandon McCune, Paul Beaudry, Alvester Garnett, Lakecia Benjamin, Nikara Warren, Brandon McCune, bassist

Lonnie Plaxico Lonnie Plaxico (born September 4, 1960) is an American jazz double bassist. Biography Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen (playing both ...

Alvester Garnett Alvester Garnett (born July 17, 1970) is an American jazz drummer who, among many other productions, has appeared on ''Great Performances'' on PBS in a tribute to Kurt Weill. Garnett has played with Abbey Lincoln, Betty Carter, Regina Carter, Cla ...

Brianna Thomas Brianna Thomas is an American jazz singer, vocalist, composer, songwriter, band leader, and percussionist. She was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois, United States. She made her singing debut at the age of six. She is the daughter of drummer and ...

, Catherine Russell. 2017 - October - Wade in

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

with Camille Thurman Group at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in Shanghai with pianist and composer

Helen Sung Helen Sung is an American jazz pianist. Music career Sung is a native of Houston, Texas, and is of Chinese heritage. She attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and went on to receive undergraduate and master's degrees ...

. 2017 - October - Wade Wade and Camille Thurman Quartet, and with vocalist

Sachal Vasandani Sachal Vasandani, known professionally as Sachal, is an American jazz singer. Vasandani released ''Slow Motion Miracles'' on the Okeh label in 2015. He previously released three albums on Mack Avenue Records, ''Eyes Wide Open'' in 2007, ''We Move' ...

, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai at The Central in the Bund, Shanghai, China.

Teaching

She teaches workshops and music clinics, and has been a talent judge in music competitions. She is a professor at the

Aaron Copland School of Music The Aaron Copland School of Music is one of the oldest departments at Queens College, founded when the College opened in 1937. The department's curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a later emphasis on the analytical sys ...

in New York, and teaches with the

Jazzmobile Jazzmobile, Inc. is based in New York City, and was founded in 1964 by Daphne Arnstein, an arts patron and founder of the Harlem Cultural Council and Dr. William "Billy" Taylor. It is a multifaceted, outreach organization committed to bringing "A ...

workshop program. She also teaches teenagers at

New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, New Jersey, United States, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors (i ...

. She says as an educator, ''"The goal is to help each individual to acquire the essential skills needed to become well-rounded musician, while nurturing their passion for music. I strongly believe that music has the power to change lives and through self expression, can bring positivity to communities for the betterment of society and culture"''. She has also taught at the New Orleans Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Jazz Camp.

Awards

She was first runner up in the 2010 Thelonious Monk competition.

Discography

*2011 - ''Love Walked In'' (Self-Produced) *2015 - ''The Offering : The Music of Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson''. On the

label. The album features

Lakecia Benjamin Lakecia Benjamin is an American jazz, funk, and R&B saxophonist. Benjamin was born and raised in New York City. She grew up in a Dominican neighborhood in Washington Heights, Manhattan and played merengue, salsa, and Latin music. As a touring m ...

References

External links

Charenee Wade - Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson (Behind the Scenes)Charenee Wade։ Music on Jazz at Lincoln centerCharenee Wade On 'Song Travels'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Charenee Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African Americans in New York City American women jazz singers African-American women singers American jazz singers Scat singers Smooth jazz singers Singers from Illinois Musicians from Peoria, Illinois American rhythm and blues singers Musicians from Brooklyn Jazz musicians from New York City Jazz musicians from Illinois