Janiva Magness
The story of award-winning vocalist Janiva Magness’ rise to the top of the blues world and beyond is a testament to the redemptive power of music and the human spirit. Possessing a rich, soulful voice and absolute command over her material, Magness is an incredibly gifted performer who can lead her audience through a range of emotions, from the deepest sorrow to overwhelming joy. A survivor of an impossibly rough childhood, Magness’ life experience informs her music in a way that is brutally honest, emotionally moving and, above all, spiritually healing. Winner of the 2006 and 2007 Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Female Artist Of The Year, Magness has seven solo recordings to her credit and has made guest appearances on CDs by R.L. Burnside and many others. Her presence on stage is legendary, as she performs 200 nights a year at clubs, festivals, and concert halls all over the world. And, in April 2008, she traveled to Iraq and Kuwait co-headlining Bluzapalooza, the first-ever blues concert tour to perform for American troops. The story continues with her Alligator Records debut CD, What Love Will Do. What Love Will Do, co-produced by Magness along with Dave Darling (Brian Setzer, Meredith Brooks, Dan Hicks), features 13 powerful songs, each imbued with Magness’ expressive emotional depth. Magness reaches heights only hinted at in her previous recordings, interpreting new material written especially for her and songs from Little Milton, Tina Turner, Bill Withers, Al Green, Candi Staton, Dorothy Moore and Marvin Gaye. Her impassioned singing takes each song from deep within her being and projects it out directly into the heart and soul of her audience, making What Love Will Do essential listening for blues, roots, rock and soul music lovers everywhere. According to Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, signing Magness was a natural move for the label. “I’ve been watching Janiva over the last few years and seeing her mature into a major artist. Her deep, subtle understanding of blues and R&B music is obvious in every note she sings. Plus, her live performances simply captivate the audience. She’s a wonderful addition to the Alligator roster, and will prove to be one of today’s and tomorrow’s crucial roots music voices.” And Magness is equally thrilled. “I am so very grateful for all the gifts in my life. One of those gifts is joining the Alligator family. I’m very excited about this new chapter in my life.” Born in Detroit, Magness was inspired by the blues and country she heard listening to her father’s record collection and by the vibrant music of the city’s classic Motown sound. By her teenage years, though, her life was in chaos. She lost both parents to suicide by the time she was 16. She lived on the streets, was in 12 foster homes in two years, became a teenage mother who gave her baby daughter up for adoption, bounced from city to city, and felt hopeless and desperate. One winter’s night, Magness hitchhiked across Minneapolis to attend an Otis Rush concert, and for the first time saw a path forward. “Otis played and sang every note with such complete and total desperation. He was fully committed to the story he was singing. Hearing him opened up some other place in me, like letting oxygen into a sealed crypt for the first time.” She began going to as many blues shows as possible, soaking up the sounds of her favorite artists, including Johnny Copeland and Albert Collins. She listened to James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, and all the other R&B greats. Listening to these blues and soul artists, and watching them live, sparked Janiva and gave her life direction. Her first break came several years later, while working as an intern at a recording studio. She was approached by her boss to sing some supporting vocals on a track. Finding her voice, she soon began working regularly as a background singer. By the early 1980s, Magness made her way to Phoenix and befriended Bob Tate, the musical director for the great Sam Cooke. With Tate’s mentoring, she formed her first band, Janiva Magness And The Mojomatics, and within the year the influential Phoenix New Times named her group the city’s Best Blues Band. She moved to Los Angeles in 1986 and slowly began finding work. She married musician and songwriter Jeff Turmes, with whom she recorded her second studio album, It Takes One To Know One, in 1997 (her debut was the cassette-only release, More Than Live). After three more independent releases, Janiva signed with Northern Blues and recorded Bury Him At The Crossroads in 2004 and Do I Move You? in 2006. Both CDs were co-produced by Magness along with Canadian roots star Colin Linden, and both garnered Magness a massive amount of critical and popular attention. Magness and Linden won the prestigious Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers Of The Year for Bury Him At The Crossroads in 2004. Do I Move You? was the #1 Blues CD Of The Year in 2006 on Living Blues magazine’s radio chart. Blues Revue said, “Magness is a bold and potent artist of the highest order, with a powerful, soulful voice…impossible to forget.” In addition to her musical accomplishments, Magness is also a National Spokesperson for Casey Family Programs, promoting National Foster Care Month. Magness has reconnected with her daughter, and is now the proud grandmother of a six-year-old boy. “I have a life today I never could have imagined,” says Magness. “The tragedies of my life no longer define me.” What defines Janiva Magness is the strength, power and passion of her deeply soulful, emotionally moving music, sung with truth and soul-shaking talent. With What Love Will Do and a major tour, and with the stars seemingly all lined up for her, Janiva Magness continues to wring the truth from every note she sings, amazing and delighting both old and new fans all over the world.
