Tracks

1. Black Narcissus

2. Blackwell's Message

3. Remembering the Rain

4. Throw It Away

5. The Aerie

6. Israel

7. The Peacocks

8. Battle Report

WBEZ-FM Chicago Public Radio “The #1 Jazz Album of the Year”
The glorious (and ridiculously underappreciated) Janice Borla includes a sparkling rendition of Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw It Away” on her dynamic new Agents of Change. Typical of Borla, a one-woman jazz tornado who heads her acclaimed summer vocal jazz camp, works alongside the biggest names in the business, tours consantly as both performer and teacher and fills her few leftover moments crafting sensational lyrics, it is just one of eight breathtaking musical canvases assembled here, each a perceptively executed masterpiece. United with the five accompanists who so enriched Lunar Octave, Borla cuts a singularly wide path as she travels from the musky turbulence of Joe Henderson’s “Black Narcissus” (enhanced with her own lyrics), through John Carisi’s shimmering “Israel,” past Jimmy Rowles’ and Norma Winstone’s mystical “The Peacocks” and on to the cacaphonous tune-up that is Bob Kaufmann’s “Battle Report.” Genius. Pure genius. Jazz Times, Christopher Loudon

Jazz Times, Christopher Loudon

“A one-woman jazz tornado… Eight breathtaking musical canvases, each a perceptively executed masterpiece…Genius. Pure genius.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bob Protzman

“A stunning singer with a lustrous voice and the technique, imagination and daring of the best improvising instrumentalists.”

Rich Fudoli - saxophones
Art Davis – trumpet/flugelhorn
Brad Stirtz - vibes
Fareed Haque – guitars
Dan Haerle - piano
Bob Bowman – bass
Jack Mouse – drums

Blujazz 2003

Agents of Change