Wade Legge

Wade Legge (February 4, 1934, Huntington, West Virginia – August 29, 1963, Buffalo, New York) was an American jazz pianist and bassist.

Wade Legge was born in 1934 in Huntington, West Virginia, but soon thereafter moved to Buffalo, New York with his parents, both of whom were musicians. Legge played more bass than piano in his early years, and it was with the bass that he was first noticed by Milt Jackson, who recommended him to Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie hired him and shortly thereafter moved him to piano; he remained a member of Gillespie's ensemble until 1954, and during that time recorded a date in France as a trio session leader.

Following his tenure with Gillespie, Legge moved to New York City and freelanced there. He played in Johnny Richards's orchestra, and did sessions with Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Joe Roland, Bill Hardman, Pepper Adams, Jimmy Knepper, and Jimmy Cleveland. Legge was one of three pianists recording as a member of the variously staffed Gryce/Byrd Jazz Lab Quintets in 1957 and appeared on more than 50 recordings before returning to Buffalo in 1959. In August 1963 Wade Legge supposedly died of a bleeding stomach ulcer. He was 29 years old.

Here's what I know of Wade Legge… In Summer of 1962, I visited Wade Legge in his one-room apartment in Buffalo one evening, after having struck up a friendship with him by seeing him perform in my home town of Niagara Falls, at Bob MInnicucci's Ontario House Bar & Restaurant (the "OH Restaurant"). Famous for hosting lots of local jazz artists, I was also a young Union musician (drummer), playing gigs on many weekends, and one weekend I was not working I went to Ninnicucci's OH Restauarant one weekend evening in the Summer of 1963 to hear him play. He usually had a trio, but that night, he played solo. During the first break, he went to the bar and ordered a glass of milk with Grenadine. I went over to talk to him. He said the mild was for his ulcers. I was a strong fan of his playing, and this wasn'lt the first time I had seen him play. We talked for a while, and he told me about playing in Europe with Dizzy Gillespie's big band. I asked him if we could get together and have him show me his recordings of being in this band, and he said "sure." A few days later, I visited him at his studio apartment in Buffalo, and he showed me all kinds of records he had been on, but was especially proud of the double-album he was on with the Gillespie Big Band, recorded in France (I believe). He was at the piano in a few shots, and one shot was taken at the grand he was playing, where he was facing the camera under the open lid, and had a big grin on his face, for the camera. He was one of the stars of this band, but told me he got sick and had to be in the hospital for 21 weeks. Gillespie had to get a replacement, and Wade was left on his own, and told me he had missed his chance to make it big. He eventually returned to the U.S., and gigged around in New York, playing with the top players there, but not getting the recognition he well deserved. Still in his late mid-20's, he finally returned to Buffalo, and gigged around there for a few years, where I got to see him many times in Niagara Falls night clubs and bars, where jazz was often played. At his apartment, I saw a handgun on top of his dresser, not a revolver, and asked him if it was real. He told me yes, because he lived alone. I didn't question him any more about the gun, but his demeanor was very restrained, nothing like his picture on the Gillespie album, where he was obviously quite happy. He was very quiet in talking to me that evening, and was grateful for my company. The next year, I was drafted into the military, in Feb. 1963. After basic, I had 2 weeks leave, and went back to Niagara Falls in April that year. I wanted to see Wade play again, but my musician friends (As mentioned, I had become a professional drummer at that time, playing gigs with my Union Card, and had been gigging around Niagara Falls and Buffalo with local bands before being drafted.) I was told that Wade Legge had died, and the musicians i spoke with from Buffalo said that he had shot himself. No proof of this, but as you can see, he was extremely depressed, had painful ulcers, and very sad all the time I had known him. I was shocked, and remembered how old he looked when I would see him play, and when I visited him--he looked decades older than 28 when I saw him. A great loss to both jazz music and the musicians who were fortunate to have known him.

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