Biography
Jazz vocalist Teri Leggio Wade has performed at venues throughout the greater New York area, including Pangea, Jazz at Kitano, Club Bonafide, the Russian Samovar, multiple engagements for Jazz and Blues Preservation, and private events. She often performs as the featured vocalist with the Mark Wade Trio, led by her husband, bassist and composer Mark Wade.
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Teri is the daughter of the late Carmen Leggio, a celebrated jazz saxophonist who played with numerous renowned jazz artists, including Gene Krupa, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, and many others. Her mother was a classical pianist and music teacher. As a child and young adult growing up in New York City in the 1960s and 70s, Teri studied classical music with her mother and her mother’s music colleagues, and she developed a natural inclination toward and appreciation for jazz by listening to her father perform with iconic musicians of the era and with his own groups. She met many esteemed jazz performers, including Krupa, Rich, saxophonist Sal Nistico, and pianist John Bunch. She was also heavily influenced by listening to the music of jazz vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Carmen McRae, and Peggy Lee.
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Teri’s father was originally from Tarrytown, NY, and he often played at venues throughout Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Connecticut. He admired Teri’s vocal ability and natural feel for jazz, and he invited her to sing at several of his gigs at various clubs and performance venues in the area off and on over the years, starting in the 1980s up through the 2000s. In August 2008, nine months before he passed away, Leggio was honored for his contributions to the arts in Westchester, receiving proclamations from the Governor and State Legislature. In July 2018, Teri fronted a tribute concert in his memory at the acclaimed Jazz Forum Arts summer festival in Tarrytown, backed by her husband Mark Wade's quartet, featuring saxophonist Ralph Lalama.
Teri began voice studies while in college and with several private instructors. But despite her musical upbringing and her strong affinity for music, she made the decision to pursue an alternate career path as a communications professional, earning a BA degree in media studies from Fordham University and a master’s in corporate communication from Baruch College/CUNY.
After focusing for many years on progressing in her communications career, Teri realized that she missed being involved with music. From 2005 to 2016, she found an outlet for her renewed interest by performing with classical choirs, choruses, and vocal ensembles, including the choral ensemble of the classical orchestra One World Symphony, in productions such as Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten, Elektra by Richard Strauss, and Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. She sang with Central City Chorus, St. George’s Choral Society, the volunteer and professional choirs of Marble Collegiate Church, and the 10-person jazz and pop vocal ensemble Uncommon Chord.
She then decided to refocus on solo jazz performance, studying jazz voice with several renowned jazz vocalists, including Jay Clayton and Carol Fredette, and vocal technique with Debra Wiley Hart. “Debra had a really transformative impact on my vocal ability; she is hands down the best teacher of vocal technique I’ve ever encountered. Carol helped me develop a much more sophisticated approach to jazz singing. She was a wonderful mentor and friend, and I’ll always be grateful for how much she helped me to grow as a jazz singer. Jay was such a talented performer and teacher, and she did so much to round out my jazz education. I learned so much from her.”
In 2020, during the Covid lockdown, Teri’s husband, Mark Wade, who was named among the top jazz bassists in the Downbeat Reader’s Poll for 4 out of 5 consecutive years, released a solo album, Blues in Isolation. A track featuring Teri’s vocals on the Gil Evans arrangement of Bob Dorough’s "Nothing Like You" garnered praise from reviewers at Something Else!, New York City Jazz Record, and Simply Jazz Talk. Teri is currently making plans to record her first full album as a leader.