Janiva Magness

Janiva Magness is a singer of raw power, emotional complexity and seemingly unimaginable technical ability. She can sing just about anything. While Magness soulfully knocks it out of the park when she performs her originals, she has also made quite the name for herself with her blues and soul covers. Perhaps one of her greatest gifts is her ability to completely transform music from outside genres into a blues performance without abandoning their original forms. No one has ever so seamlessly and comfortably slipped pop and country songs into a bluesy masterpiece. You never know what she’s going to pick out of her expansive repertoire, but there may just be a Willie Dixon, Little Minton or Ike Turner number, or perhaps a cover of Nina Simone, Tom Waits or Shelby Lynne. Magness leaves no stone unturned. One moment, you hear the quiet ache as she penetrates the heart of loneliness. The next, you feel rich, loud aggression fueled with spitefulness. The next, a graceful, intense gospel number leaves you in joyful ecstasy.