Janiva Magness and her band are on tour right now; and I am happy for her audiences. You see, during the first listening session, I kept thinking that this band has got to be scorching when playing live shows! Janiva calls their style Americana Blues Soul; but it was the Rock and Roll element that made me forget about reviewing and just enjoy the music. The musicians are clean and skillful. Janiva's voice is clear, strong, and convincing. "I Need A Man" rocks the house. Then the band presents "Everthing Is Alright"; a lovely, mellow groove with substance and character. The bluesy moderate tempo song entitled "With Love" just made me say 'oh yeah', as Janiva shared the vocal spotlight with Dan Navarro. As I listened to this CD for the second time, I noticed trouble again; I was getting caught up in these songs by Janiva Magness. She delivers a knockout ballad that is oh, so Bluesy. At this point, I must spotlight Janiva's band. Zach Zunis is playing some sort of magic guitar...such sweet licks! On keyboards, especially the organ, Jim Alfredson is spectacular. Gary Davenport delivers a very strong, yet smooth, bass performance that keeps this unit tight. Matt Tecu is a talented and exciting drummer, who displays great versatility through this eleven song collection; and rocks the track called "Who Am I". All band members provide vocal support. Additional music contributors are producer Dave Darling (guitar, Glockenspiel), Brie Darling (percussion), Arlan Oscar (Hammond organ, piano), and Carl Sealove (Bass). ORIGINAL by Janiva Magness is a great CD...delivered with style and infused with Love, passion, and skill. Janiva delivers rocking uptempo material, and sincere ballads. That's how we know the live shows just have to be outstanding! It's easy to see why Janiva Magness has won many awards...but it is her audience that gets the grand prize of receiving superb, versatile, and remarkably skillful musical creativity from this performer and her associates. You're going to absolutely love "Original", the new CD by Janiva Magness.