Often cited for her adventurous, risk-taking approach, Janice continually challenges herself, keeping vocal improvisation front-and-center in her performances. “I’m really a ‘vocal instrumentalist’ – a musician whose instrument is my voice,“ she says. Her repertoire is an eclectic mix, favoring instrumental jazz tunes by modern and contemporary jazz composers.
With each successive recording, Janice drills deeper into the musical approach that distinguishes her from so many of her contemporaries – to wide critical praise. Both Promises to Burn (2014) and From Every Angle (2007) received “4 stars” in DownBeat Magazine and were among its “Best Albums of the Year.” Agents of Change (2003) was named “The #1 Jazz CD of the Year” by WBEZ-FM Chicago Public Radio, and praised by Jazz Times as “Genius. Pure genius.” Three Story Sandbox (2016), featuring her in free improvisations with drummer Jack Mouse and multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson, was a DownBeat "Editor's Pick."
The native Chicagoan began her music training on keyboard at age 8 and her vocal training at 12. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Barat College (Lake Forest, IL), with vocal training at Northwestern University. While attending the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) for graduate study, she sang with the Ineluctable Modality, a 12-voice touring chamber ensemble that performed an array of experimental new music by such contemporary composers as Mauricio Kagel and Iannis Xenakis.
Since then she has performed with such jazz talents as Clark Terry, Bunky Green, Bobby Watson, Gary Bartz, Terry Gibbs, Bobby Shew, Lou Marini, Scott Robinson, Holly Hoffman, Mike Wofford, Pete Malenverni, Steve Rodby, Fareed Haque, Claire Daly, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Judy Niemack, Karrin Allyson, Peter Eldridge, Roseanna Vitro, Madeline Eastman, Dan Haerle and many others. Notable performances include multiple appearances at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Jazz Showcase (Chicago), Birdland and the Iridium (NYC), Women in Jazz Festival (Fort Bragg, CA), and the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference (NYC).
Janice has been mentoring aspiring vocalists for nearly as long as she has been performing. A recognized pioneer in vocal jazz education, in 1986 she founded the vocal jazz camp at the Sasktachewan Summer School of the Arts, and in 1989 brought it to the U.S. as the Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp and Hot Jazz – 6 Cool Nites Concert Series. The annual event, cited as “one of the most innovative and dynamic summer jazz educational programs in the country” (Jazziz) ran for 26 years.
Associate Adjunct Professor of Music with the Jazz Studies Program at North Central College (1996-2020), Janice previously served on the jazz faculties at Benedictine University, Northeastern Illinois University, and College of DuPage. As a guest artist and clinician, she has performed at high schools, colleges, and festivals in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan. She has published articles on vocal jazz in Downbeat and the Jazz Educators Journal, and since 2007 has served as judge for the DownBeat Student Music Awards.
Janice is Executive Director of Flashpoint Creative Arts, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote improvisation as an essential life skill. In 2019, she was made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International in recognition of the organization’s innovative workshops for young people with autism spectrum disorder.
Janice Borla has made it her artistic mission to use her voice as a true jazz instrument – a resolve evident in all aspects of her music. Her recordings and performances have earned her consistently high praise for her beautiful sound, superb technique, adventurous repertoire and imaginative vocal improvisations.
"Among the best, boldest and most innovative vocalists around…A one-woman jazz tornado…Genius. Pure genius."
Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times
AboutJanice
"A stunning singer with a lustrous voice and the technique, imagination and daring of the best improvising instrumentalists."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette