Charenee Wade
"Ms. Wade is a jazz singer of commanding skill, an heir to the legacies of Betty Carter and Carmen McRae," says the NY Times.
1st Runner-Up in the 2010 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition, the award-winning and critically acclaimed native New Yorker has excited audiences all over the world with the ingenuity of her phrasing and vibrancy that her big personality projects on stage.Wade is poised, majestic with razor-sharp agility reminiscent of the jazz greats."The second coming of Betty Carter," says Christian McBride.
Recipient of the 2017 Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award, Charenee has been embraced by and worked with notable artists including Wynton Marsalis, Terri Lyne Carrington, Winard Harper, Eric Reed, Robert Glasper and Kyle Abraham, among others. Wade also contributed her virtuosic vocalese to Rufus Reid's Grammy Nominated recording called Quiet Pride.
An alumni of Manhattan School of Music, Charenee has performed at some of the top venues including The John F. Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, The Apollo and has performed at major festivals worldwide including Montreux, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Istanbul Jazz Festival, Spoleto, Savannah Music, Jazz En Tete, Bern Jazz Festival, and Charlie ParkerJazz Festival.
Charenee's current CD, Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, is a powerful re-interpretation of the poet's musical library. "..An emotional engagement with the material that renders every word believable," (Jazz Wise Magazine) which features notable artists including Lonnie Plaxico, Marcus Miller, Stefon Harris, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Christian McBride (spoken word). Wade gives ample evidence on this remarkable recording to why she is one of the most exciting, distinctive and bold musical talents on the rise today.
Wade is currently a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens and was just recently appointed to Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University under the new direction of Sean Jones.
Email:
charenee.wade@qc.cuny.edu