Blue Elan Records artist: Janiva Magness - Love Wins Again - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Love Wins Again, from Janiva Magness and it has a strong soulful base. Her first release on Blue Elan Records opens with title track, Love Wins Again, a uptempo R&B style track showcasing the tight phrasing of Magness with nicely blended backing vocals and a radio hook. Real Slow has an infectious funky groove with slick guitar riffs and a solid bottom. Ballad, When You Hold Me has the pure sound of 60's R&B with nicely blended vocals. I really like the feel of this track and Magness parlays her soulful vocals into a super radio track with warm key backing by Arlan Schierbaum and stinging guitar riffs by Garret Deloian, Zach Zunis and Dave Darling. Say You Will is a prime radio track with an easy beat and a solid melody. Backing vocals by Brie Darling, Bernie Barlow, Gary Pinto and TJ Norton add considerable warmth and Phil Parlipiano on piano balances the solid bass lines of Gary Davenport and tight drum work of Matt Laug. Doorway is an mature ballad with all of the spotlight on Magness. Nicely tunes backing vocals and light guitar accompaniment rounds out this track. Moth To A Flame has a cool jazzy saunter with rich lower vocals under the lead and with Schierbaum on organ, a cool bass line by Davenport and slick guitar riffs, this is one of my favorite tracks on the release. Your House Is Burnin, is a high energy track with an almost James Brown structure but with a rock footprint. A stinging guitar riff on this track really fans the flames making this one a cooker. Just Another Lesson is a folk style ballad accompanied by acoustic. Nicely written and performed, very cool! Rain Down has strong potential for adult radio with it's somber attack and posture. Nicely presented with smooth instrumental articulation. John Fogherty's Long As I Can See The Light is my favorite track on the release and I believe the best showcase of Magness' vocal range. With a light country funk, similar to CCR's delivery, this track just hits it! Wrapping the release is Who Will Come For Me, a powerful ballad with shimmery guitar work and full coral style backing vocals. With warm sax work from Alfredo Ballesteros, this is a nice conclusion to a solid 1st release on Magness' new label.


 

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Janiva Magness' new album 'Love Wins Again' coming April 8 on Fathead/Blue Elan Records

INCENDIARY SINGER-SONGWRITER JANIVA MAGNESS CREATES AN EMOTIONALLY CAPTIVATING, SONICALLY LUSH TESTIMONTIAL TO THE POWER OF LOVE Award-winning performer’s 12th album, out April 8, continues her heralded partnership with Grammy nominated producer Dave Darling, and is her first release via Blue Élan Records Love Wins Again comes following a Blues Music Award and 2014’s top Billboard-, blues radio-, and Americana radio-charting album Original Photo by Jeff Dunas LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Janiva Magness’ new album, Love Wins Again, out on April 8, 2016 on Fathead Records/Blue Élan Records, is yet another evolutionary step for the soulful, elegant, award-winning singer-songwriter. Its 11 core songs and two bonus tracks are built on a sonically sophisticated architecture that’s in full service of Magness’ remarkably flexible and generous voice — which can flow smoothly as champagne or churn up gravel on command. Love Wins Again shatters genre barriers by enshrining elements of Americana, soul, rock, pop, country and blues. The album’s title is a mantra that resonates throughout: the concept of love as a physical, psychic and spiritual force that has the strength to conquer negativity, sadness and personal demons. “Love is a bigger power than hate and darkness,” Magness explains. “It’s easy to forget that when we’re struggling or when the world often seems frightening and out of control. But love can transcend barriers between people and cultures, and bring us closer in ways we might not have imagined. Love can also be frightening. It requires opening yourself up and taking risks, but in the end, love will always win.” Love Wins Again marks Magness’ fifth collaboration with four-time Grammy nominated producer Dave Darling, whose credits include Glen Campbell, Brian Setzer, Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, John Waite and Stray Cats, and whose instincts compel Magness to tap her deepest creative powers and lead her songs to unpredictable places. He has become her key songwriting foil and is the primary architect of the album’s gorgeous textural sound, which blends acoustic and electric instruments, flourishes of Latin percussion, horns and an enlightened approach to the studio to create perfect settings for her vocal prowess. More than just expert range and craft, Magness’ voice rings with sincerity. With songs like “Love Wins Again,” “Doorway” and “Say You Will,” Magness has proven that she is an accomplished storyteller and diviner or the heart, whose songs reveal life’s potent truths. “Love Wins Again” begins the album with a zesty, groove-propelled message that’s part manifesto and part testimonial. Magness’ joyful melody soars above the song’s bed of percolating percussion and ringing R&B guitar. Love won again in multiple ways in Magness’ own life last year, through the completion of her memoir, launching a musical based on her life story and again when she married English bluesman and singer-songwriter T.J. Norton. Even when Magness is sending a warning flare in her state-of-the-world address “Your House Is Burnin’ Down,” she does it with grace. The tune’s “get up” call to action, sung with a handful of gravel in her voice, and its punching horns and high-energy beat invoke the urgency and drama of early James Brown.  Following up her last album is no easy task. Original, from 2014, marked her debut as a songwriter and raised the creative bar for her collaborations with Darling. It entered the Billboard blues chart — where her releases routinely appear — at number five and topped the blues radio charts. Original also scored her seventh Blues Music Award, for Contemporary Blues Female Artist. In addition, the album received a Best Song nomination for “Let Me Breathe,” co-written with Darling.  The same honor was bestowed upon the songwriting team in 2013 for “I Won’t Cry.”  Altogether, Magness has been nominated for 25 Blues Music Awards and follows the legendary Koko Taylor as the second woman to win the highly coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award. Original also revived her own label, Fathead Records, after a six-year stint with the internationally respected blues imprint Alligator Records. “It was really time to get out on my own again and take full control of my music,” Magness says. That change also reflected her rising status in the Americana music scene — where Original climbed into the Top 20 on the radio chart — alongside such similarly tough, soulful and literate artists as Mavis Staples, Sharon Jones, and Bettye LaVette. Love Wins Again is being released via Blue Élan Records, an artist-friendly label headed by Kirk Pasich, who shares Magness’ interest in working on behalf of at-risk youth. Magness is an alumnus of the foster care system and is a spokesperson for Casey Family Programs National Foster Care Month as well as an Ambassador for both the Foster Care Alumni of America and the Child Welfare League of America. Magness explores her own turbulent youth, her rise to stardom and more in her just-finished, as-yet-untitled memoir — a book that took three years to write that has already inspired an in-the-works musical. Her various trials — losing both parents to suicide as a young girl, traversing through 12 foster homes and giving up a child for adoption at age 17 — left Magness in the deepest despair. But ultimately, inspired by the encouragement of her final foster mother and a galvanizing performance by the legendary bluesman Otis Rush, she found stability and salvation in music. Today Janiva Magness is one of the most beloved figures in the Americana, blues and roots music world. She’s reached a larger and more diverse audience with each succeeding album and developed a reputation as a live entertainer that’s made her a staple of the international festival circuit. http://janivamagness.com Janiva Magness Tour Dates March-May 2016 Sun., March 13   BETHLEHEM, PA  Blast Furnace Blues Fest Tue., March 15 CLEVELAND, OH  Beachland Ballroom Wed., March 16  DAYTON, OH  Jimmy’s Ladder Thur., March 17  CHICAGO, IL  City Winery Fri., March 18  INDIANAPOLIS, IN  The Jazz Kitchen Sat., March 19  RIVERSIDE, IA  Riverside Casino & Resort  Thurs., Sat.-Mon., March 24-28  BYRON BAY, Australia Byron Bay Bluesfest  Fri., April 15 SUTTER CREEK, CA SUTTER CREEK THEATRE Sat., April 16  SAN FRANCISCO, CA  Biscuits & Blues  Tue.-Wed., April 19-20  SEATTLE, WA  Jazz Alley Fri., Sat. April 22-23  PORT WASHINGTON, WA  Upstage Wed., April 27 SELLERSVILLE, PA  Sellersville Theater  Thur., April 28  SHIRLEY, MA  Bull Run   Fri., April 29  FALL RIVER, MA  Narrow Center for Performing Arts Sat., April 30  MANHATTAN, NY  The Cutting Room  Sun., May 1  WARRENDALE, PA Jergel’s Tue., May 3  WASHINGTON, DC  The Hamilton Sat., May 7 - MEMPHIS, TN - Rum Boogie   http://www.conqueroo.com