Maybe Now It’s Their Turn

One Tuesday each month, Janiva Magness and Jeff Turmes--a tight, bluesy duo out of L.A.--play at Cafe Voltaire in Ventura. Tired of the sidelights, the two are looking for the spotlight with their new album, “It Takes One to Know One.”

The album is full of clever songs and witty lyrics about relationships past and present, plus a kazoo solo. There’s a full band playing on the album, but at Cafe Voltaire, it’s just a duo traveling light. Magness has a powerful sultry and smoky blues voice and has guested on numerous albums, plus toured with Jimmy Buffett. (But “Margaritaville” won’t be a viable option Tuesday.)

Guitarist, songwriter and main squeeze Turmes has an extensive resume as a sideman, primarily with the James Harman Band, plus with other Southland blues acts such as Doug MacLeod, Hook Herrera and Kid Ramos.

Magness and Turmes are the latest in a long line of quality acts that owner Todd Winokur has inflicted upon an unsuspecting public over the last few years, a list that includes Southern Cross, Catfish Hodge, Jimmy Adams & Friends, Harmonica Fats & Bernie Pearl, Melborne Moon and many more.

During a recent phone interview, the singer and the guitarist discussed the latest.

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Is the CD doing OK? Are you two rich rock stars yet?

Magness: No I don’t think we’re ever going to be that, but it’s doing pretty good. It’s fairly steady, but it’s not skyrocketing. We sell a few at our shows, a few from our P.O. box and a few off the Internet, so for us, it’s doing OK. The songs are just so good they needed to be recorded. Jeff has a great reputation as a sideman and as a guitar player, but I wanted him to get the recognition as a songwriter. He’s brilliant. And he’s my husband and that’s pretty cool, too.

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How’s the L.A. scene?

Magness: It’s pretty interesting--there’s a lot of talent out there. L.A. is a good place for a working blues musician because there’s a pretty strong blues scene. A real good thing that’s happening here and is being watched all over the country, and internationally as well, is the West Coast Swing thing. That’s real good for the blues.

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What’s the difference between the band and the duo?

Magness: As a duo, we do a lot of songs off the CD, and with our band, we do a lot of songs by dead guys. We play a couple of times a week, usually with the band.

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What do you think your music sounds like?

Magness: It’s country blues and ballads with the duo. With the band, we do more blues and Memphis soul.

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There’s a kazoo solo in “Once in a While?” How did that happen?

Magness: That song just needs a kazoo solo, don’t you think? I mean, it’s crying out for a kazoo solo.

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How did you two get started?

Magness: Jeff and I met each other at a Monday-night jam session gig in L.A. At the time, I had a boyfriend, but I thought Jeff was awfully cute. He started sending me songs, and I started doing them with my band. We got to know each other and collaborated professionally. Later, we started dating and have been playing about three years now.

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What’s the best and worst thing about your job?

Magness: The best thing is that you get to do what you love doing and you get paid for it. Sometimes, you can make a real good living at it. As to the worst thing, I could name a lot of things, but I’d have to say it’s the business end of it. It can be really tough.

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When did you know you wanted to be a musician?

Magness: I’ve wanted to be a musician since I was a little girl. I was always putting on these shows for my parents they never wanted to watch. As a young woman, it made more and more sense to me. I feel really privileged to be able to do what I do.

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There’s some really great lyrics on your album.

Magness: You better talk to Jeff about that, OK?

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Hey Jeff; so where do your songs come from?

Turmes: Good question. A lot of the time, I have an idea, and I just write something in my notebook, maybe just a few lines. Then I’ll forget about it for a while. Then maybe I’ll look at my notebook six months or a year later and then see what jumps out at me. I’m not the type who can sit down and write a song in 15 minutes.

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From “King Bee,” there’s a great line “ . . . He comes up with plan after insane plan and he fails at every try. He winds up one day in his own backyard shooting a pistol at the sky . . . “ Where did that one come from?

Turmes: I had an idea for that song, and I knew what it was, but I couldn’t get to it. But finally you get to a point where you’re satisfied or else you just don’t want to mess with it anymore. It took a long time to write that song.

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From “Once in a While,” there’s a line “Once in a while I get lonesome and I wish you were still here. Once in a while I get lonesome, but most of the time I don’t care.” Tell me about that one.

Turmes: It was about this woman I was with about 10 years ago. Originally, it was supposed to be an up-tempo song, but then it came out as an eight-bar blues thing. Another song, “She Holds a Grudge,” is about the same woman. Both songs are about getting out of a relationship and all that.

* Janiva Magness & Jeff Turmes at Cafe Voltaire, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. 8 p.m. Tuesday night. $2. Call: 641-1743.

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Ventura Theatre Takes Off: Does it approach blasphemy to drink Bass Ale out of a Bud Light plastic cup? Or how about a Bud Light out of a Pepsi cup? It’s probably not as nefarious as any of that, just that business was booming at the Ventura Theatre last week and they ran out of cups. After a number of sparsely attended shows, including the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, which rated a sellout, the venue finally took off last weekend with three hit shows in a row. It began last Thursday night with the Dancehall Crashers, then continued with Hall & Oates and John Lee Hooker. The latter combined the best of vintage blues and a sauna--next time they should crack the side door to get some air in that place.

Next up for the Theatre is a Deadhead dance gig Saturday night with the Ominous Sea Pods, Sea of Green and Organix.