Janiva Magness
(Alligator)
Let's put our cards on the table; how many great (not just “acceptable,” but truly great) white blues singers can you name? Don't hurt your brain trying to do the math – the number is roughly equivalent to that of Pygmy basketball stars, hedonistic monks, and responsible, upstanding Hilton sisters. However enamored of the blues the aforementioned, pigment-challenged portion of the populace may be, 999,999 times out of a million it's just not in our genes somehow. As the considerable talents of everyone from John Hammond Jr. to Bonnie Raitt have proven over the years, at best we can usually only make a damn good try.
That's one of the most obvious reasons Detroit-born Janiva Magness stands out as far above the competition as she does, but it's not the most important one. The dearth of truly captivating contemporary blues artists with something distinctive to offer beyond a retro rehash or a tepid “update” is the situation to which Magness' music responds so directly. Just as she did with her excellent 2006 album, Move You, Magness brings vibrance, viscerality, guts, and plain unadulterated soul to her Alligator debut, What Love Will Do.
Whether she's adding her own vivid stamp to Little Milton's “That's What Love Will Make You Do,” daring to stand in the shadow of the Mount Rushmore of Memphis soul on Al Green's “I'm Glad You're Mine,” or narrating husband/bassist/reedman Jeff Turmes' tale of music-biz woes “You Sound Pretty Good” with the familiarity of autobiography, Magness maintains the bite of a Koko Taylor and the dramatic gravitas of a Bettye Lavette while remaining undeniably herself. Production that's punchy without being ham-fisted, and gritty without kowtowing to self-conscious notions of “authenticity” frames Magness' big voice perfectly, making for what will undoubtedly be one of 2008's most memorable blues releases.
Standout Tracks: "That's What Love Will Make You Do," "I'm Glad You're Mine" JIM ALLEN
