For blues singer Janiva Magness, 2009 turned out to be a pretty special year. She received a Blues Music Award as "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year," as well as a nomination for her 2008 album What Love Will Do. In recognition of her contribution to the blues, Magness was also honored with the coveted "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award." For anybody who has seen this dynamic performer on stage, these accolades come as no surprise.
Truth is, Magness makes pretty good records, too. What Love Will Do was universally acclaimed, the spirited collection of blues, Memphis soul, and classic R&B tunes the high point of a career that just keeps improving. With The Devil Is An Angel Too, Magness's seventh album, the talented vocalist has achieved the near-impossible task of topping her previous effort with an inspired collection of pop, blues, R&B, and even a country song; somehow she managed to imbue each of them with no little measure of heart and soul.
Janiva Magness's The Devil Is An Angel Too
The album kicks off with the sultry title track. Magness's sensual, low growl vocals rise above a hypnotic throbbing bass line to veer dangerously close to a Delta blues vibe. Magness's husband, guitarist Jeff Turmes, lays down some smoky fretwork that brings the entire endeavor back to the murky swamp from whence it came. Magness's take on the blues/rock standard "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" (previously waxed by both Graham Parker and Ann Peebles!) is complimented by Zach Zunis's incendiary, barb-wire guitar licks and the singer's own torch-soul vocals, which slide off the record like a shot of whiskey down the throat.
The rest of The Devil Is An Angel Too follows a similar tack, Magness digging up some unqualified obscurities to wrap her gorgeous voice around, regardless of the song's original provenance. Tackling the Nina Simone classic "Feeling Good" (listed as "I'm Feelin' Good") makes sense, Simone's vocals usually leaning more towards the bluesy side of the jazz equilibrium. Magness does the song justice with a smoky performance that creates a jazzy ambiance but retains the song's innate blues vibe with a barely-accompanied voice that really spotlight's Magness's impressive range. Producer Dave Darling's elegant fretwork fills in the edges to help create additional emotional impact.
Weeds Like Us
The highlight of The Devil Is An Angel Too has to be the Turmes-penned "Weeds Like Us." A Delta-inspired dirge with sparse instrumentation (Stephen Hodge's subtle drumbeats, and claustrophobic guitars from Turmes and Darling), the song's tale of addiction, love, and death is made all the more powerful by Magness's haunting, passionate vocals which run the gamut from sorrow to defiance within the course of three-minutes-and-change. A cover of the Marvin Gaye gem "End Of Our Road" is less R&B than it is rootsy blues-rock, the song afforded a funky rhythm that underlines Magness's soulful vocal gymnastics.
Nashville wordsmith Gary Nicholson is one of the best that the city has to offer, and Magness has dipped into the Nicholson songbook before, but here she comes up with a classic tune in "Save Me." A slow-paced number with only a bit of twang, Magness doesn't bring country to the blues as much as she brings the blues to country music, her soulful take highlighting the heartbreak lyrics with a wonderfully bittersweet performance. By contrast, her cover of Joe Tex's "I Want To Do Everything For You" is a lively R&B romp with three red-hot guitars and Magness's nimble vocals. The album closes with Turmes' "Turn Your Heart In My Direction," a powerful romantic song delivered with gospel intensity and a lush soundtrack that sounds like it could have come from a 1950s film score.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
Janiva Magness is one of the best vocalists in blues music today, and there is a large percentage of her loyal (and growing) following that would put down hard coin to hear the woman sing the phonebook (the Reverend included). The Devil Is An Angel Too provides further evidence of the singer's talents, Magness a one-of-a-kind talent that has lived the blues and survived to tell the story. Expect more than a few awards for this one come awards season, 'cause The Devil Is An Angel Too is one of the year's best. (Alligator Records, released April 13, 2010)
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