Jjanice

Singer-songwriter Joël Janis

Song – "Perception" - Now playing...

Bio
The musical journey of Joël Janis, a.k.a. Jjanice, began a few years ago while he was still living in the Mauricie area, in central Quebec, where he discovered his passion for poetry and song, a potential he was only able to develop since moving to Montreal in 2003.

Now pursuing his dream, Jjanice happened to meet a number of exceptionally talented musicians with whom he ended up working, chiefly through the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, a well-known cross-genre live improv band that was already very active on the Montreal musical and cultural scene. After joining the collective and changing his name to Jjanice "the Ringer" ("le Sonneur") he met professional bassist and producer Patrice Agbokou, already active locally and internationally, who began working with him on a variety of projects as a composer, arranger, manager and co-producer.

Drawing on their multiple influences and experiences as members of a cosmopolitan community, they came up with the term “hybrid soul” to describe a musical and poetic genre where gloom, freedom, hope, mindlessness and a sense of community can all be expressed at once in one joyful outburst. Their many-coloured sound stems from a mixture of hard alternative rock beats with staccato Afro-Caribbean rhythms and lyrically inspired harmonies. Along with other musicians from varied backgrounds, Jjanice and Agbokou formed JJANICE+ to give a voice to their brand new, unifying groove. The band has since made successful appearances at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the International African Nights Festival and Pop Montreal, among others.

This year, they also released their first recording, Sonneur, named after the Ringer himself.

Website
http://sonneurmusic.wordpress.com/

Discography
Sonneur (EP, 2010)

SOCAN Connection
Member since 2005