A must listen to Album. My favorite cut is "I Won't Cry". In my opinion this is a five star album. “As I move forward,” says award-winning vocalist Janiva Magness, “I’m more willing to put myself on the line. I’m less willing to burden myself with unnecessary problems, less willing to care what people say about me. As it turns out, the more vulnerable I allow myself to be, the more strength I draw from that.” That vulnerability and strength is on full display on Magness’ powerful new album, Stronger For It. Magness, through her passionate vocals and, for the first time, through her own original songs, delivers the most moving and intimate album of her career. Produced by Dave Darling (Brian Setzer, Meredith Brooks, Dan Hicks, John Waite), Stronger For It is Janiva’s declaration of independence. Having recently come through an intensely difficult period in her life, Magness has found new strength in her music. On these performances, she lays her soul bare, singing of loss and recovery, pain and redemption, hurt and healing, looking back and moving forward. Recording Stronger For It was as cathartic for Magness as listening to it will be for her fans. “Every human being goes through times of huge upheaval and personal transition,” Magness says. “I think everyone can relate.” Magness, known primarily as a musical interpreter, co-wrote three remarkable, autobiographical songs for the album, including the poignant and melodic “Whistling In The Dark,” the riveting “I Won’t Cry” and the take-no-guff showstopper “There It Is.” Of her songwriting, Magness says, “Writing songs for me is laying out my experiences for everyone to see. It’s another level of vulnerability.” In addition to her outstanding originals, Janiva tells the rest of her story through her inspired reinventions of songs by Tom Waits, Grace Potter, Shelby Lynne, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Matthew Sweet, Buddy and Julie Miller and others. According to Magness, the ultimate message of the album is clear: “You can get through just about anything and come out better because of it. The title says it all.” Magness is among the premier blues and R&B singers in the world today. Her voice possesses an earthy, raw honesty born from her life experience. A charismatic performer known for her electrifying live shows, Magness is a gutsy and dynamic musical powerhouse. She received the coveted 2009 Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer of the Year (she is only the second woman to ever win this award, Koko Taylor being the first). She also won Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year, an honor she also received in 2006 and 2007. She has received a total of seventeen Blues Music Award nominations, including one for 2012’s Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. USA Today declared, “Magness is a blues star,” and The Philadelphia Inquirer said, “Magness sings superbly, with a scorching intensity.” Magness’ fame has been hard won. Born in Detroit, Magness was inspired by the blues and country she heard listening to her father’s record collection, and by the vibrant music of the city’s classic Motown sound. By her teenage years, though, her life was in chaos. She lost both parents to suicide by the age of 16 and lived on the streets, bouncing from one foster home to another. At 17, she became a teenage mother who had to give up her baby daughter for adoption. One night in Minneapolis, an underage Magness sneaked into a club to see blues great Otis Rush, and it was there that she found her salvation and discovered that the blues were her calling. Magness recalls, “Otis played as if his life depended on it. There was a completely desperate, absolute intensity. I knew, whatever it was, I needed more of it.” She began going to as many blues shows as possible, soaking up the sounds of her favorite artists, including Johnny Copeland and Albert Collins. She immersed herself in records by James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Etta James and all the other R&B greats. Watching these artists live and listening to their recordings sparked Janiva and gave her life new direction and purpose. Her first break came several years later, while studying engineering and working as an intern at a recording studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was approached by her boss to sing some supporting vocals on a track. Finding her voice, she soon began working regularly as a background singer. By the early 1980s, Magness made her way to Phoenix and befriended Bob Tate, the musical director for the great Sam Cooke. With Tate’s mentoring, she formed her first band, Janiva Magness And The Mojomatics, in 1985 and soon after the influential Phoenix New Times named her group the city’s Best Blues Band. She moved to Los Angeles in 1986 and slowly began finding work. She recorded her second studio album, It Takes One To Know One, in 1997 (her debut was the cassette-only release, More Than Live). After three more independent releases, Janiva signed with Northern Blues and recorded Bury Him At The Crossroads in 2004 and Do I Move You? in 2006. Both CDs were co-produced by Magness and Canadian roots star Colin Linden, and both garnered Magness a tremendous amount of critical and popular attention. Magness and Linden won the prestigious Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers Of The Year for Bury Him At The Crossroads. Do I Move You? debuted at #8 on the Billboard Blues Chart and was the #1 CD of 2006 on Living Blues magazine’s radio chart. Blues Revue said, “Magness is a bold and potent artist with a powerful, soulful voice…impossible to forget.” Magness signed with Alligator in 2008 and released her stunning label debut, What Love Will Do, to massive critical acclaim. The Chicago Sun-Times raved, “Her songs run the gamut of emotions from sorrow to joy. A master of the lowdown blues who is equally at ease surrounded by funk or soul sounds, Magness invigorates every song with a brutal honesty,” while Blues Revue called her “a blues interpreter of the highest rank…punchy and tough…swaggering, incendiary vocal performances.” Fueled by all the positive press, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition profiled Magness, putting her in front of an audience of millions and expanding her ever-growing fan base. Her 2010 follow-up, The Devil Is An Angel Too, brought even more acclaim. The album was the #1 CD of 2010 on the Living Blues radio chart. The Wall Street Journal said she plays “hard-hitting blues and soul.” Living Blues declared, “Accolades come easy when you’re this good. Magness is blessed with smoky, seductive pipes that bend the blues into pure enchantment. Her steely conviction is authentic, soulful and playful. The emotion rings true.” In addition to her musical accomplishments, Magness reaches out to help others. She is a Spokesperson for Casey Family Programs National Foster Care Month Campaign (her sixth consecutive year) and an Ambassador for Foster Care Alumni of America, promoting National Foster Care Month. “It is a huge honor and a daunting responsibility. But I am very excited to be a part of this important work, and I look forward to carrying the message of hope for youth in the foster care system, and to alumni,” says Magness. “Casey Family Programs does groundbreaking work, and I am deeply honored to work with them again. Foster Care Alumni Of America is an amazing organization that focuses on adult alumni of the system.” Magness has also reconnected with her daughter, and is now a proud grandmother. “Our fate doesn’t have to be our destiny,” she says. “I’m living proof of that. And I’m so very grateful.” And her legion of admirers is grateful for Janiva Magness. With Stronger For It and non-stop touring, Magness, along with her world-class road band, will bring her dynamic live show to fans across the country and around the world. Live and on record, Magness’ level of intimacy and depth of emotion infuses her music with a power impossible to deny. Rather than succumb to hard times, with Stronger For It, Magness has created an album loaded with creativity and imagination, turning her own personal pain into timeless, exhilarating, soul-healing music.

Be an underwriter of OldGoldRadio and we will broadcast your support on OldGoldRadio, KBBC, OldGoldRadio.com and KBBCLA.com

For a $5 per month donation your message would be broadcast once every 2 hours, admittedly to a very small audience.

You can also support us by using our Amazon.com Store to buy you music. Each purchase helps us buy more music.

ABOUT CHRIS JASPER If you are familiar with THE ISLEY BROTHERS, then you know CHRIS JASPER, an integral member of THE ISLEY BROTHERS during the 1970s and 1980s—their gold and platinum years—from the 3+3 (1973) to Between the Sheets (1983) albums. These were the years when THE ISLEY BROTHERS were a self-produced, self-contained major recording act. If you are familiar with THE ISLEY BROTHERS, then you have heard the music of CHRIS JASPER, who was primarily responsible for writing and producing all of THE ISLEY BROTHER music during this time, including such beautiful love songs as “For The Love of You” and “Between the Sheets” and uptempo funk such as “Fight the Power.” His arrangements and instrumentation as a classically-trained musician, and his expertise on the keyboards and synthesizers, are the foundation of the legendary “Isley Brothers Sound.” When the six members of THE ISLEY BROTHERS disbanded in 1984 Marvin and Ernie Isley joined CHRIS JASPER and formed ISLEYJASPER- ISLEY. Without this crucial musical component, THE ISLEY BROTHERS were no longer a self-contained group. CHRIS JASPER brought his “unique sound” and musical talents to ISLEY-JASPER-ISLEY, and topped the charts singing lead vocals on “Caravan of Love” (1985), a song that was covered by English recording group, the Housemartins, an international #1 pop hit. “Caravan” was also used in commercials as part of a Dodge Caravan advertising campaign. He was also awarded a CEBA Award For Excellence for a Miller Brewing Company commercial. When ISLEY-JASPER-ISLEY disbanded (198, CHRIS JASPER brought his “unique sound” to his own solo projects, topping the charts with “SuperBad.” CHRIS JASPER has continued to write songs and produce his own R&B/Gospel music, as well as other artists, for his independent record label, Gold City Records (www.goldcitymusic.com). CHRIS JASPER’s music has been covered and sampled by hundreds of new and established recording artists, including Whitney Houston, Jay- Z, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Fantasia, Will Smith, Alliyah, Queen Latifah, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Natalie Cole, and the list goes on and on. In 1992, CHRIS JASPER, along with the other members of THE ISLEY BROTHERS, was inducted into the ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME. BIOGRAPHY Background and Education Chris Jasper was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 30, 1951, the youngest of seven siblings. While growing up in Cincinnati, Chris studied classical piano starting at the age of 7 years old. After graduating from high school in Cincinnati, he moved to New York to study music composition at the Julliard School of Music. Chris received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in music composition from C.W. Post College in New York, where he studied under noted jazz pianist and composer, Dr. Billy Taylor. He subsequently received a Juris Doctorate degree from Concord University School of Law. The Jasper/Isley Connection The Jasper and Isley families lived in the same apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio. Chris’s older sister, Elaine, married Rudolph Isley. The three older Isley brothers, Rudolph, O’Kelley and Ronald, formed a vocal trio (“The Isley Brothers”) and relocated to Teaneck, New Jersey. While temporarily living in New Jersey as a teenager, Chris and the two younger Isley brothers, Marvin and Ernie Isley, formed a jazz band, “The Jazzmen Trio”, that played locally in New Jersey. Chris played keyboards, Ernie played guitar and Marvin played the bass. Along with Chris, Ernie and Marvin also attended C.W. Post College in New York. While in college, Chris, Marvin and Ernie played on the older Isley Brothers recordings, including “It’s Your Thing”. The Isley Brothers Years In 1973, Chris, Marvin and Ernie brought the songwriting and musical component to the older brothers vocal trio, making The Isley Brothers, a self-produced, self-contained six-member group. Their debut release as a 6-member band on their CBS-associated label was the 3+3 album. Chris was the primary songwriter, producer and arranger of The Isley Brothers music from 1973 (“3+3”) through 1983 (“Between the Sheets”). His arrangements and instrumentation as a classically-trained musician, and his expertise on the keyboards and synthesizers, have been credited as the foundation of the legendary “Isley Brothers Sound.” In 1984, the 6-member group disbanded due to internal problems and the older Isley brothers returned to recording as a vocal trio. Isley-Jasper-Isley In 1984, Chris, Marvin and Ernie formed Isley-Jasper-Isley, a selfproduced, self-contained trio, with Chris as the lead singer of the group, as well as the primary songwriter, producer and arranger. Isley-Jasper-Isley recorded 3 albums on their CBS-associated label, and earned recognition with their #1 hit, “Caravan of Love”. “Caravan” was covered by English recording group the Housemartins, who made the song an international #1 hit. “Caravan” was also used in a Dodge Caravan advertising campaign. Solo Career In 1987, Isley-Jasper-Isley disbanded and Chris and Ernie embarked on solo careers. Chris formed his own record label, Gold City Records, and released two albums as a CBS-associated label. His debut single as a solo artist, “Superbad” reached #1 on the R&B charts. Eventually, Marvin and Ernie returned to record under the Isley Brothers group name, and Chris continued his solo career, releasing a total of 9 solo albums to date, including 4 urban contemporary gospel CDs. Chris has also produced a number of artists for his Gold City label, and has worked with such notable artists as Chaka Khan, writing and producing a song for her CK album (“Make It Last”). Chris’s music has been covered and sampled by numerous new and established recording artists, including Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Fantasia, Will Smith, Alliyah, Queen Latifah, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Natalie Cole, and the list goes on and on. Most recently, Chris’s 17-year old son, Michael Jasper, released his debut album “Addictive” on the Gold City label. “Addictive” was written and recorded by Michael, and co-produced by Chris, who accompanies Michael on the talkbox and background vocals. Chris has received numerous gold and platinum albums and music industry awards, including the BET lifetime achievement award. In 1992, Chris, along with the other members of The Isley Brothers, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Chris lives in New York with his wife of 28 years, Margie, and his three sons, Christopher, Nicholas and Michael. CHRIS JASPER - DISCOGRAPHY Isley Brothers Year 3+3 (CBS) 1973 Live It Up (CBS) 1974 The Heat Is On (CBS) 1975 Harvest For The World (CBS) 1976 Go For Your Guns (CBS) 1977 Showdown (CBS) 1978 Winner Takes All (CBS) 1979 Go All The Way (CBS) 1980 Grand Slam (CBS) 1981 Inside You (CBS) 1981 The Real Deal (CBS) 1982 Between The Sheets (CBS) 1983 Isley-Jasper-Isley Broadway’s Closer to Sunset Boulevard (CBS) 1984 Caravan of Love (CBS) 1985 Different Drummer (CBS) 1986 Solo Projects Superbad (Gold City/CBS Associated) 1988 Time Bomb (Gold City/CBS Associated) 1989 Praise the Eternal (Gold City) 1992 Deep Inside (Gold City) 1994 Faithful & True (Gold City) 2002 Best of Chris Jasper…With Love (Gold City) 2003 Amazing Love (Gold City) 2005 Invincible (Gold City) 2007 Everything I Do (Gold City) 2010 Production Title/Artist/Label Vicious & Fresh (Liz Hogue) (Gold City/CBS) 1989 Out Front (Out Front) (Gold City) 1995 Brotha 2 Brotha (Brothaz By Choice) (Gold City) 1998 Make It Last (Chaka Khan “CK” album) (WB) 1989 Addictive (Michael Jasper) (Gold City) 2010