Janis Mann - Vocalist The L. A. Scene   "A winning, high-spirited jazz singer in the swinging manner of Ella Fitzgerald" is how Seattle Times jazz critic Paul de Barros has described Janis Mann. He has also said that "like Sarah Vaughan, Janis also uses her voice as an instrument."          Janis Mann enraptures audiences with an authentic jazz voice that is both classic and contemporary and with a style that is uniquely her own.  Her first CD, "A Little Moonlight," was hailed by co-producer Diane Schuur as "a heartfelt and tasty interpretation of well-loved standards." The critical acclaim and popularity of her next two CD recordings, "Lost In His Arms" and "So Many Stars - A tribute to Sarah Vaughan" has ensconced her as one of the Northwest's premier jazz singers.        Both CDs are listed on KPLU/PRI's Jim Wilke's "Best of the Year" list. The "So Many Stars" CD was recorded live at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in Seattle at a benefit concert for breast cancer patients that Janis produced in conjunction with Swedish Breast Care Center. All proceeds from sales of the CD go to benefit the Patient Assistance Fund at the center.          With the release of her new CD, "Let It Happen," Janis is now at the top of her form. An accomplished performer, Janis enthralls audiences with her lush vocal interpretations, clear and skillful phrasing, and a personality that embraces each individual as if she were singing for him or her alone.         Born in Brooklyn, New York, Janis grew up on Long Island, drawing inspiration from her mom, a gifted singer, who would sing to her the music of jazz greats like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.         Janis studied classical piano and later, indulging her growing passion for folk music, learned the guitar. In her late teens, Janis packed up her guitar and headed for Europe.         She supported herself in her travels by playing and singing in the cafes of Paris and Amsterdam and as a street performer in the subways of London, which, she notes, have wonderful acoustics! After returning to New York she fronted a popular R&B band. Moving  to Venice, California, Janis performed in clubs throughout Los Angeles, developing and refining her style of jazz and blues.        Now living in Seattle with her husband and three cats, Janis continues to delight audiences at clubs and performing arts centers throughout the Northwest.

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...Without a single overlap from the Haag repertoire, Janis Mann replicates enough of Sarah's boppy extrapolations to bring forth and bask in her spectral essence.  She does so without giving herself up, and without succumbing to any of Sarah's inopportunely coy excesses (which should be long past forgiven).   The balance between her own vocal gifts and the "Sassified" vocal idiosyncrasies she appropriates for the session is handled with a deft hand...... 

On this night, Janis Mann is in complete command of her vocal resources - and she demonstrates that she has listened to and heard even Sarah's most essential inner voice.  The sweeping vibrato at the opening of "Sweetest Sounds" is unadulterated Vaughan, just as is the voluble Mann scat on Sarah's own, "Shulie A Bop."  Then, there is "See Me Now," another Vaughan signature tune without which no authentic tribute to Sassy (1924-90) would be complete.  Janis Mann seems to be channeling Sarah as she sings it.  Sarah aside, Mann's handling of what is arguably the single greatest song in the entire American Popular Songbook, Rodgers & Hart's "Never Entered," is pure mastery.  Here the Vaughan deferences are subtle and, with verse intact, we are aurally present at a vocal epiphany.  The accompanying trio is ever responsive, altogether a fitting proxy for the great trios that often buoyed the Diva herself.  This is the Vaughan tribute you must hear, for its depth of evocation and its power to redeem some of the loss we suffered at the passing of a singer whose like we shall never hear at arm's length again.  Janis Mann comes close, however.....  very very close.
                                                                                                 Alan Bargebuhr