Toronto singer/songwriter Layah Jane often springboards off real experiences for the fusion of personal and political messages that comprise her songs. Take how a confrontation at a rally against the Iraq war resulted in "Put Your Foot Down," which appears on her current album Brightness & Bravery.

 

Brian MacMillan, Layah Jane and Oliver Johnson (July 12, 2008)

 

We've just returned from yet another in the amazing Knox Acoustic Cafe series, this time the incomparable trio of Brian MacMillan, Layah Jane and Oliver Johnson. What a fantastic show!

The basement room was definitely warm tonight - this hot July night's heat was a presence certainly felt by all. But there was no stopping these musicians as they treated us to song after song of brilliant playing, beautiful vocals and tales of new beginnings and love. What's not to like?

Brian MacMillan has played at Knox before, a solo set last year and, although we regrettably missed that show, I have had reports that it was every bit as great as tonight's performance. I believe it. The man's excellent songwriting and intricate guitar work is truly something to behold, and his relaxed and engaging stage presence is a definite plus. I've had his CD for a while now, and his songs never fail to lift me up. With his words he seems to acknowledge that there are bad things about life, but why focus on that when you can start over, move past it and get on with things in a more open and understanding way? Better yet, he's not at all preachy about it. It just is what it is. I love it.

Layah Jane is known to folks around here through Last Chance Saloon, part of the lead up to a recent Summerfolk. Tonight she sang incredibly well, her perfectly-controlled voice rising from whisper to power with passionate ease. There's a breathy quality in her singing, in the tradition of the great jazz vocalists (one could easily imagine her covering Ella and Billie). I also heard some Eva Cassidy (as a fellow audience member pointed out), and even a little Norah Jones. But those would merely be comparisons (which can only go so far), because her voice is also completely her own and it's amazing. Her songs are well-considered and peaceful, and she dances while she sings, her entire body suffused with the music. She's a captivating performer whose name you should definitely get to know.

This was my first time hearing Oliver Johnson play the guitar, and I definitely hope it won't be the last. He was the ace in the hole tonight, in many ways, reliably adding support, colour and fills where they best fit in each tune. It was obvious in his playing, and in the way his eyes lit up and a playful smile crossed his face mid-song, that the man has truly found his joy in music. Watching his fingers fly across the frets was a real treat.

The first set of the show featured Jane's songs, with accompaniment from MacMillan and Johnson, while the second set was comprised of MacMillan's tunes backed by the other two. On any given night, all three of these musicians could ably carry a solo show, without question, but the real treat for the audience tonight was seeing them all perform together. There's a real understanding between them, a sympathetic and respectful playing that was completely riveting. They just seemed to know where the others would take things, and it all fit seamlessly. Each song was beautiful, complete, and perfect.

Alas, it was all over too soon and, after chatting with each performer briefly afterwards (who all turned out, of course, to be genuinely friendly and nice people), we struck out for home with our heads full of the wonderful music we'd heard tonight. I will not soon forget this excellent show.

 

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Amie Street (July 2008)

 

This young Toronto songstress weaves intricate vocals in and out of beautiful acoustic guitar flourishes. Seeded in the roots of folk rock, Layah Jane's sound adds a little more pop to the wholesome words of poetic chants like those of Joni Mitchell and Rickie Lee Jones.

And that's no surprise, considering the great influence they have over most of her work.

Jane is backed by Oliver Johnson on her sophomore album Brightness & Bravery, who adds hearty vocals and electric and baritone guitars, in addition to being general producer on the album. She is also supported by a cohort of fellow Canadian musicians, and her mellow, articulate style warms right down to the core.

When It's Time is faithful to traditional folk songs, bringing me back to Sarah McLachlan's classic "In the Arms of An Angel" -- but Jane manages to add her own heartfelt poignancy.

Put Your Foot Down picks up a bit, with an upbeat pluck of the guitar pick; this is where you can hear more modern pop pushing its way through. Like Norah Jones, Jane manages to relate to listeners via the anguish of relationship ups and downs.

And the breathy whispers opening the album in Armoury combine both new and old, bringing in the whimsical electronics so often used by Frou Frou's Imogen Heap and hitting the high notes when drawing out mournful melodies.

While many tracks seem to teeter somewhere along the folk rock spectrum, my personal favorite -- Willow -- stands on its own, with passionate, tempting vocals like those heard in a 1920's jazz club.

B&B is sure to see the same success of Jane's debut album and career in general -- she began dabbling in acoustics at the ripe young age of thirteen, and has produced rich and original music nearly all her life. After winning a wide variety of Toronto music awards and seeing features on a number of television hits (like Global TV's Blue Murder and ESPN's primetime drama Tilt), Jane's ambition and inspired poetry truly demonstrate her own bravery and brightness.

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-Scott Lingley

 

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Layah Jane, whose voice you might recognize for her rendering of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors in a recent Dove soap advertisement, has a smooth voice and lyrical aptitude seemingly perfect for the brand of soul-inflected, jazzy acoustic folk you'll find on her sophomore release, Brightness & Bravery.  The sound of her sultry self-harmonizing is breathy and intimate whether the subject is personal, political or some combination of the two, and it rises up effortlessly to catch on high notes before swooping down again to a swaying lull...

Producer Oliver Johnson and a retinue of session players curated from Canada's top folk acts (Cockburn, Sexsmith, Arden, Feist, etc., etc.) do sterling work...

Expect to hear a lot more of this artist in the near future.

 

~Patrick Blennerhassett

 

 

Toronto singer-songwriter Layah Jane's first two albums definitely play off each other.

 

There's 2005's Grievance and Gratitude, which features a dark album cover and similarly brooding folk-jazz infused songs.  Compare that with 2008's Brightness & Bravery, which features a smiling Jane on the cover and bright tunes on the record and it looks  as if the young musician has undergone a transformation.

 

"It definitely was darker for me, " said Jane of Grievance and Gratitude. "I think most of the songs have a bit more struggle to them. And with (Brightness & Bravery) perseverence is more the theme.  With a bit of struggle and those shadows as well, but less of them and more light."

 

Jane will play Victoria on May 20 with Oliver Johnson providing guitars and background vocals.

 

Tour veteran Jane has played extensively throughout Ontario and the rest of Canada since her first demo CD hit the streets in 2000.  Brightness & Bravery represents a bit of a coming out party for Jane, a sound change and also a new outlook on life for 2008.

 

"I don't know if there was an exact conscious moment in my life where things sort of got a bit lighter," she said.  "I think it was definitely a gradual thing for me, something that happened over a period of time and I haven't realized it until now...You go through peaks and valleys...I'm just more conscious of when I'm in the valleys and of working towards getting out of them."

 

Jane's sound has been called funky-jazzy-reggae, folk-pop along the lines of such artists as Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Ani Difranco, who Jane cites as the inspirations for much of her work.

"Songwriting is a very spontaneous process for me," she said.  "I sort of sit down and they all spill out of me at one time, sort of unexpected and never when I'm prepared for it."

 

Despite being an analytical person, she does her best not to analyze those bursts of inspiration when they come, she said.  Along with her analytical brain comes forethought about her image as a female singer-songwriter in an industry flooded with them.  Jane is more business savvy after close to five years in the music business, but said she still doesn't give much weight to exterior things like personal image.

 

"I think you have to be aware of your image and I definitely have become more so.  But it's more about me trying to figure out who I am and where I fit in this world, rather than worrying about what kind of clothes I wear or what kind of songs I write.  I'm more interested in clarifying myself to myself in a way, just finding out who I am."

 

~Carolyn Nikodym 

 

Vue Weekly Article Link 

With her eye on the prize these days, chances are Layah Jane will quickly add to her list of places to play and people to see.

 

 

"I guess I've been mostly self-taught through the exploration of whatever sounds good to my ears," laughs Jane. "It wasn't premeditated, but there's been a very organic shift since that first album. I think it came about from working with different bands, listening to other stuff, and wanting to explore other realms --rhythm and blues, world music, soul and jazz."

All that brings us to Jane's new independently produced disc, Brightness & Bravery. It's a surprisingly varied set of original songs coloured by loose, jazzy vocal phrasing and spare aural backdrops that range from folky to funky with a few stops in between.

While Jane's songs all tend to revolve around the subject of relationships in one way or another, they come with a maturity, varied pacing and an alluring sense of fun that's unusual in the work of a 25-year-old artist. She manages to weave in a few social observations too, and a couple of tracks from Brightness & Bravery wouldn't be out of place on mainstream radio. Given that, Jane insists she's determined to let her musical career unfold as it should, with an ear to the eclectic musical range she likes tapping into.

She says her songs tend to come up suddenly, often with the words and music rolling out at the same time. And while they do draw from her own experience, she does resort to poetic licence to balance the autobiographical elements.

Jane credits musical friend/producer Oliver Johnson for considerable input on the arrangements of the new album and for bringing together most of the backing musicians who helped her pull it off. He's worked with her since her first album, plays guitar as well, and accompanies the singer on her current Western Canadian tour.

 

Her father was an amateur singer/songwriter. Her mother penned poetry. Both encouraged Jane when she started singing as a youngster - but not too much.

Jane took piano lessons, but was more interested in pursuing her own music. Keyboard instruction stopped when she was about 12.

"It turned out to be a good thing because I actually ended up playing more music once I stopped taking lessons than when I was supposed to be practising," she said in a recent telephone interview from Toronto.

Jane's career is rolling along nicely these days.

Her debut disc, Grievance and Gratitude, was named best jazz disc by Toronto Independent Music Awards.

Ontario Independent Music Awards named her best folk act in 2007.

"I love lots of different kinds of music," said Jane.

"I'm really pleased that our music seems to be crossing genres. It's great to find audiences in all places."

Her third release, Brightness and Bravery, came out earlier this year.

Toronto's award-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist Layah Jane is a spine-chilling talent who is showing off her sophomore disc at Hugh's Room. Brightness and Bravery evokes Rickie Lee Jones and Norah Jones with intensely intimate tunes that meld pop, folk, reggae, soul and jazz. "These are songs that come from the experience of persevering through darkness - both personal and societal - to discover light," the 25-year-old says. A beautiful voice and something to say, can't beat that.

 

This 24-year-old Canadian songstress walks the folk side of the street. Jane is folk in that her music tends to be acoustically rooted and politically charged. The jazz aspect sneaks in with her phasing and structure. She's not a jazz musician per se, but neither was Rickie Lee Jones or Joni Mitchell. And both those grand dames pushed --- and still pushed whenever classifications and parameters loomed. Short answer: Layah Jane is beautiful music. You're gonna like her.

  

~ Andy Frank

In baseball, talents like Layah Jane are known as 5 tool prospects, someone who can do it all at a high level, seemingly effortlessly. She writes, sings, and plays fabulously; she is charismatic and gorgeous, backed by superb producer /guitarist Oli Johnson, Layah Jane is about to explode.