'One Away' with Jane MacGizmo

• July 14 2019
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sunday-finance/-one-away-with-jane-macgizmo_169786

Your passion is what fuels your soul. It's the vehicle for your search for happiness and often finds you, even when you're not looking. That's how music was for Denieze Anderson, the multi-hyphenate creative better known as Jane MacGizmo.

In a previous life, she was photographer, graphic designer and video editor, operating her own full-service studio in Mandeville. She now parlays those skills into the development of her own brand as hybrid jazz and neo-soul artiste with a uniquely regional perspective.

“Music brought the whole package,” Anderson said. “When I was a child this was really a dream for me; I used to write songs and pretend I was a big pop star but never would I think it would be a real career for me. So this is really a dream come true especially since growing up in a strict Christian household where my parents were trying to line me up to become a doctor and this path is totally taboo.”

Anderson, who studied mass communications with an emphasis in television production at the Nothern Caribbean University, said her move to music allowed her the freedom to channel all those creative energies, free from having to choose one.

“It really was that I was trying my hand at all the things I liked creatively and seeing which ones stuck. I always wanted to try music and my first two songs were really for me until someone said I should take it seriously, because I was naturally good at it. So I did, and the rest was history. But definitely what I loved about music was that it gave me the power to be me, unapologetically.”

The two songs she referenced, Babylon and Black Skin, were thought-proving explorations, both accompanied by stunning visuals she helped craft for the then musical novice who has since built a steadily growing audience for her distinct sound.

Her most recent solo effort, One Away, led by a daring single-shot video featuring just her, has been making the rounds on local and regional media. The attention is not unfamiliar to Anderson, who's seen her efforts make it to American cable channels BET Jams and BET Soul.