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Driving home from Petaluma late at night in last week's rainstorm, I flipped on the radio in hopes of finding some rhythm to compete with the batting of the windshield wipers. What I got instead was the voice of Joni Davis: a low, ominous sound that creeps alongside a spare piano in an artistic evocation of nature's power. As the winds around me ravaged the
county, as trees collapsed and power lines failed, I realized that the songs from Davis' new album, A Bird's Heart, were exactly what I was looking for.
I picked up the album the next day, and if it's still storming by press time, I wholeheartedly suggest it for those languorous nights spent shuttered in a cold house. The title track opens with an instrumental passage in the
construct of Bill Evans' "Peace Piece"—two chords on the left hand, meandering tone clusters on the right—until Davis' husky, bluesy voice comes in, delivering a poetic
assessment of her own heart. It's this sort of unconventional songwriting that will inevitably draw comparisons to PJ Harvey's latest all-piano album White Chalk (Davis also cites Bill Callahan and Will Oldham, themselves adept at strange song
structures, as influences). The most captivating song on the album, "A Tear for Maria," is about as conventional as a song with a musical saw solo can get; in three verses,
it manages to exude a deep sense of loss without telling exactly what happened to its title character. "I have your picture right on top of my piano," she sings, "On the treble end, where my right hand goes," and though we've never met Maria, it's impossible for us not to wonder,
why the treble end?
Like Jolie Holland, Joni Davis is able to distill folk music, carnival music, jazz and balladry into something new and strange. A Bird's Heart is a long, slow record. It would be great to see her form a band and kick out the jams, since her voice could surely sing the hell out of the Motown songbook—but for now, it's just the ticket until the sun comes back out.
Gabe Meline, North Bay Bohemian, 9 Jan 2008 - Gabe Meline, North Bay Bohemian
Driving home from Petaluma late at night in last week's rainstorm, I flipped on the radio in hopes of finding some rhythm to compete with the batting of the windshield wipers. What I got instead was the voice of Joni Davis: a low, ominous sound that creeps alongside a spare piano in an artistic evocation of nature's power. As the winds around me ravaged the
county, as trees collapsed and power lines failed, I realized that the songs from Davis' new album, A Bird's Heart, were exactly what I was looking for.
I picked up the album the next day, and if it's still storming by press time, I wholeheartedly suggest it for those languorous nights spent shuttered in a cold house. The title track opens with an instrumental passage in the
construct of Bill Evans' "Peace Piece"—two chords on the left hand, meandering tone clusters on the right—until Davis' husky, bluesy voice comes in, delivering a poetic
assessment of her own heart. It's this sort of unconventional songwriting that will inevitably draw comparisons to PJ Harvey's latest all-piano album White Chalk (Davis also cites Bill Callahan and Will Oldham, themselves adept at strange song
structures, as influences). The most captivating song on the album, "A Tear for Maria," is about as conventional as a song with a musical saw solo can get; in three verses,
it manages to exude a deep sense of loss without telling exactly what happened to its title character. "I have your picture right on top of my piano," she sings, "On the treble end, where my right hand goes," and though we've never met Maria, it's impossible for us not to wonder,
why the treble end?
Like Jolie Holland, Joni Davis is able to distill folk music, carnival music, jazz and balladry into something new and strange. A Bird's Heart is a long, slow record. It would be great to see her form a band and kick out the jams, since her voice could surely sing the hell out of the Motown songbook—but for now, it's just the ticket until the sun comes back out.
Gabe Meline, North Bay Bohemian, 9 Jan 2008 - Gabe Meline, North Bay Bohemian
"Singer songwriter rocking a very strong dramatic voice redolent of a more powerful PJ Harvey. Yes, the girl can certainly sing… The backing is sparse piano and very little else; this has a spectral, chilly charm. Songs for Tindersticks fans to mope around their mum's bedrooms to, maybe it is, but it is very good." - Bugbear Promotions
"Singer songwriter rocking a very strong dramatic voice redolent of a more powerful PJ Harvey. Yes, the girl can certainly sing… The backing is sparse piano and very little else; this has a spectral, chilly charm. Songs for Tindersticks fans to mope around their mum's bedrooms to, maybe it is, but it is very good." - Bugbear Promotions
"I highly recommend giving her a listen; her voice is deep and rich and lusty - somehow calling to mind... endless days of rain. She is full of soul, and one gets the feeling upon listening to her tales of dark strangeness that hers is a very old soul." - Val Esway
"I highly recommend giving her a listen; her voice is deep and rich and lusty - somehow calling to mind... endless days of rain. She is full of soul, and one gets the feeling upon listening to her tales of dark strangeness that hers is a very old soul." - Val Esway
"Her debut collection of nine piano-driven ballads has more in common lyrically with Nick Cave or Sparklehorse, but its Bessie Smith or Nina Simone who come to mind... because she carries the same weight..."
"Her own songs, often layered with the spiritual tone of a hymn and or lullaby, find a welcome home for recurring religious allusions from baptismal flooding to the duality of man."
For full article visit: www.jonidavismusic.com - John Beck, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
"Her debut collection of nine piano-driven ballads has more in common lyrically with Nick Cave or Sparklehorse, but its Bessie Smith or Nina Simone who come to mind... because she carries the same weight..."
"Her own songs, often layered with the spiritual tone of a hymn and or lullaby, find a welcome home for recurring religious allusions from baptismal flooding to the duality of man."
For full article visit: www.jonidavismusic.com - John Beck, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
"She's an old blues sage trapped in a young woman's body, and to hear her sing is a delight."
For full article visit: www.jonidavismusic.com
- John Beck, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
"She's an old blues sage trapped in a young woman's body, and to hear her sing is a delight."
For full article visit: www.jonidavismusic.com
- John Beck, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Discography
Joni Davis (2005)
A Bird's Heart (2007)
Photos
Bio
Joni is based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and is known for her piano driven ballads. She recently self-released her second album, A Bird's Heart, which consists of 11 songs. Most of the tracks on the album were recorded over a two-week period in the fall of 2006. Additional strings and saw, written and performed by Quinta, were recorded while Joni was in London during Spring/Summer 2007. In her songwriting Joni explores the challenges of being uncomfortably human, and uses piano, guitar, accordion and subtle electronics as a sonic backdrop to her lyrics.
Joni has played to sold out houses at The Mystic Theater in Petaluma, supporting Aimee Mann, and the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, supporting k.d. lang.
Musical influences include Kate Bush, Bill Callahan, Maria Callas, Nick Cave, Chopin, Leonard Cohen, PJ Harvey, Laura Nyro, Will Oldham, Nina Simone, Sparklehorse, the Tindersticks and Tom Waits.
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