Music
Press
"Jennifer Lane's newest CD, In A Magazine, just plain rocks! Plush full sound! Rich harmonies and horn lines. Cool funky grooves. Maybe you've seen her in one of her frequent appearances with her bass player at Elway's. That act (Jennifer Lane's Rock 'N Soul Duo) as fun as it is, pales in comparison to what she can do in the studio with a full band and her own original music. Notably, Paris Delane from Sonia Dada sings on a couple tracks and the rest of the musicians are just as good. A few of the highlights: "I'm So Ready" starts out gospel and then goes funk. "In This House" has a cool dance/funk groove. "River of Truth" has a more serious tone, illustrating Lane's ability to change things up. "Bone Happy" is a slightly naughty love song. We'll let you decide what it's really about. There's a tasty long piano solo on "River of Truth." There's cool horn work on "She's Strange." Clearly, Lane spent a lot of time producing this album. It's perfect!
Buy this album if you like music that means something."
- Rock on Colorado
July 30th 2007
- Rock on Colorado
"A startling discovery! The blues crossover of the singer and songwriter, who is also responsible for piano and Hammond B, breathes jazzy passages as well as such that are set in soul, anticipates its gospel roots, moves to singer/songwriter and brings them to a good finish in what sounds to the musical ear like a genuine country number. Versatility rules!
Nevertheless this material of original compositions and covers does not appear arbitrary or patchwork. Rather, Lane's foundation in Blues leads as a red thread through the repertoire. This begins with the jazz flairs of the opener " Big Fat Lie"; the band's "The Weight" is transported into church Gospel; Carol King's, "Way Over Yonder" impresses with sensitive vocals and saxophone; the title song swings and rocks. There are numerous highlights, among them the rousing original composition "I'll Give (You'll Give For Me)" or John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery".
Some critics say the artist, who is presently residing in Colorado, is on a search for her style. Should this be meant as derogatory, they are wrong. On the contrary: if a search is so fresh and well versed, it should last as long as possible. The path is, after all, the goal. Great record!"
-DiHo-
- German internet mag
"Keyboard player/singer/writer/arranger/ producer Jennifer Lane treats us to diversity in styles making "Sweet Long Cool Drink' a Water" a standout. You're hearin' country vocals with a touch of R&B and funk. Jennifer enjoys having fun with her music and is able to show off her expertise in rhythm by syncopating her vocals to the max as her cover of "Don't Change Horses" proves. But choice covers don't fully absorb this 15 tracker, 9 of the tracks are composed & meticulously arranged by Jennifer.
Flashy piano chops are in Jen's music box of tricks to boot! Tunes that will rock your ears include Ronnie Shannon's "Baby I Love you," "Sometimes," & the title cut "Big Fat Lie." To pull you in more to what this lady sounds like, here are a few female artists, Jennifer told FM in our March interview, that she highly admires; "I Absolutely worship Aretha Franklin" I dig Sheryl Crow and of course Janis. Gilda Radner, although she wasn't a recording artist, influenced me a great deal. And lets not forget Heart. Ann and Nancy rock! (And they should layoff all the trash talk on Ann's weight for Christ's sake!).
Funny, spunky, and great at blending sounds Jennifer Lane is who major labels should be paying attention to rather than cheerleaders in the nude! It's about time the industry trains audiences of younger generations to appreciate talent don't cha think?
You go Jennifer because sista's are doin' it, because they NEED TO do it for themselves!"
- FemaleMusician.com
August Issue 2003, CD REVIEWS
- FemaleMusician.com
"Denver Colorado's Lane has a strong voice - volume, range and a variety of texture - and it's well-suited to a pack of surprising, open-hearted originals and choice covers such as Cajun Bobby Charles' "The Jealous Kind." Arrangements are exact and ardent, and the production is first-rate. Jennifer Lane: Sweet Long Cool Drink'a Water"
- Frank-John Hadley,
DOWNBEAT, January 2003
- Frank-John Hadley
"At first glance, you’ve gotta wonder what a pretty white girl like Jennifer Lane thinks she’s doing singing blues. But from the first note of Big Fat Lie, it’s obvious that Lane’s got the chops necessary to hold her own—like a bluesier Kylie Minogue or Alannah Myles (who hit big with Black Velvet in 1999), she reaches deep and comes on strong. Standouts include a gospel influenced cover of The Weight (replete with backing vocals from the Quayle United Methodist Choir) and a darkly soulful rendition of Bobby Charles’ The Jealous Kind that takes the weeper light-years beyond Joe Cocker’s raspy version. My only complaint here is with the mix—Lane’s voice should carry the song alone, without the superfluous piano and guitar solos. Nine originals augmented with a handful of well-chosen covers (John Prine’s Angel From Montgomery, Tower of Power’s Don’t Change Horses [In The Middle Of A Stream]) round out the fifteen-track disc; of particular beauty is the autobiographical For Matthew (It’s My Sentence). More soul than blues, this release is as refreshing as the title suggests."
- Found in Living Blues magazine
[Issue #163]
June 2002 Page 82
- issue #163 June 2002
Her sound has been called "comfort music for those who brew up on '60's soul," but Lane's first effort, 'Sweet Long Cool Drink'a Water', also encompasses gritty blues, light country, and even a gospel-style church choir on several tracks. The piano player and singer spent eight years soaking up the blues scene in Kansas City, and now applies those lessons to her own material as well as covers of classics by The Band, Carole King, and John Prine."
- Blues Review
[Issue no. 76]
- Blues Revue
Discography
SWEET, LONG, COOL DRINK'A WATER...2001/Lunacy Records
IN A MAGAZINE...2007/FastLane
Photos
Bio
With appearances in DownBeat Magazine, Blues Review, Living Blues Magazine, The FemaleMusician and Candence, among other acclaim, Jennifer Lane is the real deal. A true musician, with heavy piano playin’ chops, and a voice that is very versatile and flexible, all of which compliments her intuitive writing, arranging and production abilities. She’s on the brink of bringing her music to the national ear. Smart and sassy, sweet and soulful, this is no cookie cutter, manufactured, girl singer clone.On the wings of her new release, “In a Magazine”, Jennifer is back at it again.
She has teamed with popular producer Kenny Passarelli , who wrote “Rocky Mountain Way” with Joe Walsh, played bass and co-produced on Dan Fogelberg’s “Part of the Plan”, toured with Elton John, Hall and Oats, and who’s production talents has taken Otis Taylor and Eddie Turner to the Handy Awards… winning one for Otis for “White African” .
Carving a niche somewhere between Sheryl Crow meets Bonnie Raitt meets Little Feat meets Sting, Jennifer’s new release “In a Magazine” is a moving , socially aware and radio ready piece of work. She tackles topics like the fashions industry’s obsession with skinniness, one’s own self acceptance, domestic abuse and migrant workers. There is even a tender little lullaby.
The title track, “In a Magazine” asks of the fashion magazine industry, from their own headlines “Am I too fat? Am I too Tall? Am I lousy as a Lover? Would I make a decent Mother?’ then repeats the defiant mantra, ‘I Ain’t Livin’ in a Magazine…’
The second track “I’m So Ready” exalts a woman who has lived. She sings… “Every line that’s one my face has earned its place…they each have names and dates…”
The grooves are heavy, her sound thick.
Her studio musicians are the best of the best. Bill Payne from Little Feat, who Jennifer shared the stage with a couple summers ago, contributes to three trax. Paris Delane, a friend of hers from SoniaDaDa, sings bass backup on several pieces.
Jennifer is captivating onstage. Six foot tall, blonde and brassy sassy. She’s outrageous and funny, with a quick and sometimes wicked wit. She has found a special understanding among the sistahood, and Jennifer speaks their language, connecting herself with all women regardless of race, religion, or political views.
At the young age of nine she began a journey that would bring her closer to herself. Jennifer would drive her Momma crazy improvising on Mozart, refusing to play written music note for note, making her family sit in the living room and instructing them when to applaud, while she put on ‘concerts’. By age 13, a fierce passion had been ignited and she really began to feel the call.
Jennifer left home at the tender age of 17, and headed off to Kansas City. She never looked back, and had no plan whatsoever.
Soon, she found herself in way over her head: Big city, bright lights.
Luckily, her guardian angel led her to the east side of K.C. (what was considered the wrong side of the tracks) There, the ethnic musical culture embraced her with open arms. No one who had the calling was an outsider there, and she found strength, love and acceptance within this community. Jennifer absorbed the lessons the music and art scene had to offer her, easily and gratefully. Its influence is quite apparent in her work today.
Jennifer eventually joined a dueling piano sing-a-long act that rocked audiences from Miami to L.A. She describes the show as a vaudevillian, burlesque frat party. This electrifying show brought her to Denver, where she began writing her own music and took up residence in the Rocky Mountains. She now performs weekly, with her duo, at Elway’s in Cherry Creek.
Jennifer wished aloud, (in a Spotlight article for the Rocky Mountain News, October 1998) for funding to do her own CD. Then in 2001, an investor decided to do just that, putting money where Jenn’s mouth was. The floodgates opened, and Jennifer started writing songs for her first record with an intensity she had not been aware of.
Expressing her soul in the music and lyrics, her words remain true, communicating her depth of feeling.
This first release, “Sweet, Long, Cool Drink’a Water”, on Lunacy Records, mixed in a few favorite covers, and developed as a well rounded showcase for Jennifer’s sophisticated soulful style. A bit of straight ahead Rock and Roll, with a whole lotta R&B, funky sugar, and even some gospel, the songs on her debut cover an immense range and makes a deep personal impression. You can hear her Missouri roots, that Mississippi mud, mixing with her evolving soul sound.
Jennifer is preparing her touring band, and expects to hit the road and the radio this fall. She will be featuring music from both her old and new release. She is looking forward to what the new year will bring, and her future looks very bright indeed.
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