JANIVA'S GOT THE BLUES DOWN.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

When saucy blues singer Janiva Magness delivers a song, you're convinced.

That's clear even without knowing a thing about her. Like all great r&b vocalists, the Los Angeles-based Magness is able to blur the line between blues and soul, singing with elegance and authority.

But hey, don't take our word for it. Take the Janiva Challenge. Slip her excellent new album, "Do I Move You?" into the CD changer on random-play next to recent powerhouse platters from Candi Staton and Bettye LaVette. Magness show-stoppers like the tear-stained ballad "You Were Never Mine" sound seamless in comparison.

"We need real music now more than ever because it gives us strength to pull through tough times," said Magness, who tonight brings her superb band to Cozy's in Sherman Oaks. "We need it in a real bad way. Blues is a ray of hope. It articulates what's lacking in people's lives."

Magness, who plays about 200 shows a year in the U.S. and Europe, knows what she's talking - and singing - about. Barely a teen when she first encountered the power of r&b in her hometown of Detroit, Magness has led a difficult life. Both parents were lost to suicide, followed by residence in a dozen foster homes over two years. At age 16, Janiva became an emancipated minor with chemical dependencies, and then a teenage mom with a baby up for adoption. Turmoil was a constant companion.

After those beginnings, the blues came naturally.

"In this country, being a blues player is plenty tough," Magness, 50, said. "It isn't for the faint of heart and it hasn't changed much. It seems a lot more people are calling themselves blues musicians these days - and I don't want to keep anyone from playing music, but it would be better if some folks would stop taking blues musicians' money and find their own niche."

Magness' vocals and stirring stage presence have expanded beyond clubs and festivals. Three years ago, she had the lead in the West Coast production of the Tony-nominated show "It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues," which ran at the Geffen Playhouse. This year, she's been nominated for her third consecutive Blues Music Award, formerly the WC Handy Award, for contemporary female artist of the year.

"It's a lifetime thing," she said of her music. "It's not as if I woke up one day and said, 'I'm going to sing blues and r&b.' It's something you're born into."

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

JANIVA MAGNESS

Where: Cozy's, 14058 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.

When: 9:45 tonight.

Tickets: $10. [phone]; cozysblues.com; janivamagness.com.

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Photo:

Singer Janiva Magness takes the stage at Cozy's tonight.

Jeff Dunas