| Music. Ahh. My earliest musical memories are somewhere around the age of four, I remember belting all my favorite tunes on a family roadtrip until a firm request from the front seat to change the channel echoed back, and I changed tunes with the automation of a radio dial.
Growing up in Upstate New York, I was active in theatre, choirs, choral ensembles, and band. I fell in love with the musical classics from Gershwin and Porter. When I moved to Seattle in 1997, I enrolled in a slew of random classes to get acclimated. One of those classes was a jazz and blues vocal workshop with Katie King. Something immediately sparked. I went on to study with various Cornish Arts teachers, and then met up with Andrienne Wilson who taught me the most about jazz. After several years under her direction and inspiration, and countless open mics and jam sessions, Andrienne pushed me out of the nest and told me that recording was the next move.
On to Bake's Place. The Seattle professionals generously embrace musical fledglings, and Craig Baker lent me use of his beautiful jazz club in Renton to do a live recording. Protected in a cove of pines, I remember rehearsing under the misty evening sky, nervous as all hell, on a Friday the 13th. This place was magical indeed though, and it was something else to be recording among a roomful of friends in this picuresque setting.
The recording project took most of the next year to complete, with mixing, mastering, design, layout, printing, disc replication, and packaging. One of my favorite highlights of the process was the 17 hours spent mixing songs with Reid Ruddy at Bob Lang's acoustically-amazing studio in Richmond Beach, where some of the greats have worked, from Nirvana to Heart. Words can't express the humbleness of hearing your own songs amplified in this awe-inspiring studio with such music gurus as Bob and Reid.
Mood Swing was completed in late 2004 and is a labor of love. People like Andrienne, Craig, Billy, Reid, Shaun W, Shaun D, Rick, Bruce, and so many more were pivotal to this project. A very heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this project possible.
The Seattle music scene truly is the nurturing center to discover one's creative potential. It seems that, here more than anywhere, music really frees the soul.
Thank you for visiting my site. You can hear sound-bytes from my Mood Swing album on the "Music" page.
Contact information for demo requests, publicity packets, references, recording purchases, event bookings:
Cathy Blanch
PO Box 36
Glenmont, New York 12077
Email murrecat@gmail.com
My performance history includes numerous shows at Tula's Jazz Club in Seattle, Bake's Place (Seattle), Sorry Charlie's (Seattle), Route 66 (16-pc swing band), Seattle Asian Art Museum (Seattle), MOHAI (Seattle), Johnny's (Syracuse), Saratoga Springs private events, private corporate events and wedding receptions.
With the CATHY BLANCH JAZZ COMBO you are sure to add a touch of class at your special event. Choose from a simple Brazilian/bossanova guitar combo, the popular 4-piece combo of voice with stand-up bass, keys, and percussion, horns, sax, congos, guitar, and more. Now booking for 2006 in the extended Capital Region in New York . Planning a wedding? Have a jazzy wedding reception ! Contact Cathy today.
A LIST OF SONGS IS AVAILABLE AND INCLUDES STANDARDS FROM ELLA FITZGERALD, FRANK SINATRA, SARAH VAUGHAN, AND COMPOSERS GERSHWIN, PORTER, MERCER, RODGERS AND HART, HAMMERSTEIN, PLUS MANY MANY MORE!
Listen there's music everywhere. |
