Biography
Born on 24 August 1944 in Amarillo, Texas, Janak grew up immersed in music. Her family arranged lessons in voice, dance, and piano at the Amarillo College of Music, where she began giving public recitals at eight and landed her first paid singing engagement at thirteen. A vocal scholarship took her to Texas Tech University in Lubbock; upon her return to Amarillo she worked with an assortment of local bands and, at twenty-two, performed a concert alongside the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. She next relocated to Houston, performing nightly at the Carriage Club inside the Sheraton Lincoln Hotel until 1969, when she moved to Denver, Colorado, seeking wider opportunities.
While based in Denver she appeared regularly in clubs alongside both local and touring jazz artists, including Dale Bruning, Ellyn Rucker, Phil Urso, Peanuts Hucko, Bobby Greene, Todd Reid, the Hot Tomatoes Jazz Band, Howard Davis, and Jim Riley, later recording with the final two. A long-running engagement at the city’s El Chapultepec club led to her meeting trombonist Carl Fontana, who brought her to Las Vegas; there she collaborated with Carson Smith, Tom Montgomery, Vinnie Tano, Bill Berry, Herbie Phillips, and Bill Watrous. She also performed aboard a jazz cruise with the Johnny Carson Tonight Show Allstars.
Janak has performed at numerous jazz festivals and concerts, occasionally joining Bruning and narrator Jude Hibler for thematic programs devoted to major composers. Early in the new millennium, European festival appearances and the overseas release of her debut album under her own name plus a recording with Fontana helped introduce her work abroad. Her rigorous early training and decades of stage experience have produced a poised, assured performer whose mature vocal approach consistently delivers deeply rewarding performances.
While based in Denver she appeared regularly in clubs alongside both local and touring jazz artists, including Dale Bruning, Ellyn Rucker, Phil Urso, Peanuts Hucko, Bobby Greene, Todd Reid, the Hot Tomatoes Jazz Band, Howard Davis, and Jim Riley, later recording with the final two. A long-running engagement at the city’s El Chapultepec club led to her meeting trombonist Carl Fontana, who brought her to Las Vegas; there she collaborated with Carson Smith, Tom Montgomery, Vinnie Tano, Bill Berry, Herbie Phillips, and Bill Watrous. She also performed aboard a jazz cruise with the Johnny Carson Tonight Show Allstars.
Janak has performed at numerous jazz festivals and concerts, occasionally joining Bruning and narrator Jude Hibler for thematic programs devoted to major composers. Early in the new millennium, European festival appearances and the overseas release of her debut album under her own name plus a recording with Fontana helped introduce her work abroad. Her rigorous early training and decades of stage experience have produced a poised, assured performer whose mature vocal approach consistently delivers deeply rewarding performances.
Albums
