Trumpeter Mike Wade Returns to Music@BCM

Music producer, composer, arranger, educator . . . Mike Wade goes by many titles.

“Shorty Bop” plays in hard bop style, including “funky grooves that make you want to swing.”

Wade brings his jazz stylings to the Behringer-Crawford Museum amphitheater on Thursday, July 29, as part of the museum’s Music@BCM summer concert series.

Named one of the top ten unsigned jazz brass players by Jazziz Magazine, Wade has performed with many well-known artists, including Bootsy Collins, Reggie Calloway, Teddy Pendergrass, The O’Jays, Maurice, Freddie, and Verdine White (Earth, Wind and Fire). He has appeared on BET’s Jazz Discovery Show and performed at numerous awards shows, festivals and conferences. His quintet, Standard Time, was the winner of the 1997 Cincinnati Cammy Awards for “Best Small Jazz Group.” In December, Mike Wade & the Nasty NATI Brass Band released their debut CD, “The Nasty NATI Brass Band.”

Wade has been playing since he was a kid. As a student at the Duke Ellington School of Arts in Washington, D.C., he received a National Symphony Fellowship to study with symphony trumpeters. He attended Howard University, then received a full scholarship to Central State University in Wiberforce, OH, where he earned his bachelor’s in music education. He spent more than 20 years at Withrow High School in Cincinnati as music teacher and band director, moving on recently to concentrate on jazz performance.

Saxophonist, flutist and clarinetist Craig Bailey of the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music has said of Wade, “(he) is one the most inspiring musicians of the new millennium. He has the fire and energy that it takes to be a great leader as well as a great artist. His hustle ability on and off the horn will take him to many new horizons. He is a name not to forget, as well as a trumpet player not to miss.”

The family-friendly performance takes place in Behringer-Crawford Museum’s outdoor amphitheater at 1600 Montague Road-Devou Park, Covington, KY 41011. Performances run from 7 to 9 p.m.  Doors open at 6 p.m. with beers from Bircus Brewing in Ludlow and food available for purchase. Parking is free.

Admission is $5 for adults and free for children ages 3-12. Visitors presenting an EBT card receive reduced admission of $3 for up to four persons. Guests are encouraged to bring folding chairs or blankets for seating. In the event of rain, the music moves inside the museum.

The 2021 Music@BCM series continues with:

August 5:            Hot Magnolias

August 12:          Son Del Caribe

August 19:          The Company

Music@BCM 2021 is sponsored by Ruth Faragher and Family, Ersatz & Moot Point Railway Co. and the Alumni of WNOP Jazz Radio, Hummel Hatfield Insurance, KW Mechanical, George & Margaret McLane Foundation and Ashley Developments and is supported by Reality Tuesday Café, Colonial Cottage and the Kenton County Rotary Club.

For more information, go to www.bcmuseum.org, email info@bcmuseum.org or call 859-491-4003.