Biography

b. USA. Since the early 80s, Blade has performed for discerning audiences. Choosing her repertoire from the great standards of the 30s and 40s, she has sung nationally and internationally at jazz clubs and festivals, and has also appeared in films and on television and radio. Among her accompanists on record have been Bill Mays (piano), Bob Magnusson (bass) and Joe LaBarbera (drums). In addition to singing, Blade also dances and plays guitar. Resident in the Pacific northwest, Blade has long been active on Seattle’s percussive dance scene. Among many past masters of tap with whom she has studied are Charles ‘Honi’ Coles and Howard ‘Sandman’ Sims. In addition to tap, Blade has studied and is expert in American clogging, Southern Appalachian flat-footing style, French-Canadian step dancing and even the form of clog dancing practiced in Lancashire, England. She has performed as a solo dancer and with the Step Sisters, the Taptone Syncopators and the Mill Creek Cloggers. In her one-woman show, Ya Gotta Wannit, she brings together her skills as tap dancer and jazz singer. In addition to her performance work, Blade is also involved in education, teaching aspects of 30s and 40s jazz and conducting jazz vocal clinics.