Charlie Wood is one of Memphis, Tennessee's, most consummate musicians. His masterful keyboard playing, particularly on the B3 organ, great Mose Allison-styled songs and laid-back vocals have been a fixture in clubs on legendary Beale Street since the early 1990s.

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 over fifteen 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 - performed nightly at the King's Palace Café on Beale Street. During their tenure at the Palace such musical luminaries as B.B. King, George Coleman, Joey DeFrancesco, Alvin Batiste, Tony Reedus, Rufus Thomas, 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.

It was during his long residency on Beale St. that Charlie developed and perfected his own unique, jaw-dropping approach to the Hammond organ. Although he makes it all look effortless and sounds perfectly relaxed and comfortable in performance, the technical prowess his style demands prompted one reviewer to describe him as "the Art Tatum of the B-3."

The virtuosity and dexterity required make it unlikely that Charlie's style of playing could even be imitated by other players, much less rivalled. 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 four original CDs under his belt: Southbound, Who I Am, Somethin' Else, and his most recent album on the Memphis-based Inside Sounds label, Lucky, on which Wood not only sings and plays a variety of keyboards but also performs all the drum, bass and guitar tracks.