Ida Blue: Brooklyn’s Boss of the Blues

‘Seismic’ blues singer raises the Yerba Buena Stompers to new heights Why does Ida sing the blues? It’s like asking why the moon glows, and the mystery only deepens as Ida Blue shares her story. “I don’t know,” she muses, “if I found the blues or if it found me.” An unpretentious but undeniably attractive, dark-haired gal who grew up in Brooklyn’s Mill Basin, Ida constantly suffers comparisons to the late Amy Winehouse, but – besides similar appearance and a shared feeling for classic American black musical genres – the dead rock star and Ida couldn’t be more dissimilar. Frankly, she’s more in tune with singers such as Sippie Wallace, Ida Cox and don’t forget Brooklyn’s own Mae West. In earlier days, Ida pursued a standard entry into show biz. After playing roles such as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes at Edward R. Murrow High School, she studied musical theater at the Boston Conservatory. After graduation, however, while her classmates sought work on Broadway, Ida took a sudden Southbound turn toward the Delta. “About six years ago, I’d’ been singing at Freddy’s, in South Park Slope on Fifth Avenue – that was my home base from the beginning. I’d sit on their piano in the front room and have a few drinks – I don’t drink like that anymore – and my friend, Billy Jackson, who’s now my manager, gave me a couple Victoria Spivey reco