Blues artist Janiva Magness doesn't just sing the blues; she's lived them, in spades. Her hard-won experience and hard-fought persistence add an element of authenticity to her music, but it's her rich voice and interpretive skills that allow her to tackle the most difficult songs and claim them for herself.
It's difficult to imagine that a vocalist with the undeniable chops of Magness was once plagued with self-doubt that almost halted her vocation in the blues before it got started. It's lucky for blues fans that Magness overcame all that nonsense, and has since built a successful, award-winning, and critically-acclaimed career.
What Love Will Do is the singer's sixth album, a finely-crafted, powerful and passionate collection of vintage blues, rock, and R&B meditations on the theme of love that display more heart and soul than just about anything else you'll hear this year.
Janiva Magness' What Love Will Do
A cover of the Little Milton gem "That's What Love Will Make You Do" is a funky little slice o' blues heaven, Magness' sultry voice dashing and darting in between red-hot guitar licks from Zack Zunis and/or Dave Darling, sounding every bit as sassy as a young Aretha Franklin. Magness also does right by Al Green's "I'm Glad You're Mine," wrapping her smoky pipes around an arrangement that's heavy on blasting horns and strutting soul.
Magness has a real feel for contemporary songwriters as well, imbuing songs like Annie Lennox's "Bitter Pill" or Gary Nicholson's "Fool Me Again" with a timeless edge. On "Bitter Pill," the singer's raw, passionate vocals are paired with a lovely azure soundtrack, bouncing with backing vocals, funky hornplay, and wah-wah-wahing guitar. With the slower-paced "Fool Me Again," Magness sounds like a young, distaff Rod Stewart, her slightly-hoarse vocals drenched with soul, supported by lonesome, Booker T-styled floating keyboard notes.
Digging Through The Crates
Magness and producer Dave Darling had to dig through more than a few crates to unearth a couple of the rare R&B jewels that the singer takes for her own on What Love Will Do. The upbeat Ike Turner obscurity "Get It, Get It" showcases Magness' vocal gymnastics and sheer power, the singer changing lanes like a Maserati shooting around a corner as she vies with the song's rockin' instrumentation for our attention. A lesser-known Bill Withers' song, "I Don't Want You On My Mind," successfully blends urban cool with a Louisiana swamp vibe, Magness' voice flying across the lyrics with certainty and strength.
The original material on What Love Will Do - a pair of songs written by Magness' husband, guitarist Jeff Turmes - slides right in comfortably alongside these blues and R&B covers. "You Sound Pretty Good" carries a jazzy New Orleans blues sound to the crossroads with spry horns and Magness' dancing vocals. The album closes with Turmes' somber, gospel-tinged "Sometimes You Got To Gamble," Magness' gentle vocals soaring from reverent to sanctified in the space of a heartbeat, caressing the words with a blanket of hope.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
Janiva Magness continues to show enormous growth as a vocalist and performer, What Love Will Do representing her strongest collection of material to date. An inspired effort that masterfully blends raunchy blues with Memphis soul and classic R&B, What Love Will Do is deserving of a widespread mainstream audience...an audience that won't be able to deny Magness' talents much longer when the lovely Janiva delivers music as self-assured, insightful, and as powerful as she does here. (Alligator Records)
