Artist Guide

Katrenia Jefferson (Retrospective)

#100 ranked Southern Soul Artist

"Holding On (The Love That Keeps Us Holding On)"

Katrenia Jefferson (Retrospective)

April 7, 2019:

Katrenia Jefferson (Retrospective)

In reviewing her artist guide for this occasion, I was saddened to see that YouTube links to some of Ms. Jefferson's most important singles and videos had been pulled, leaving fans and the curious bereft of the songs' magic. In some cases, I've left the links intact, as a record of their existence, and in other instances, I've searched for alternatives--and, of course, new YouTube videos of songs Katrenia hadn't released previous to my last update.

Listen to Katrenia Jefferson singing "Holding On" on YouTube.

In retrospect, it's shocking to realize Katrenia Jefferson leaves not a single album representing her legacy. But I have updated Katrenia's later-career singles" (and it's long overdue). "Living A Lie" and "What If I?," especially, elbow their way onto the top shelf with "Holding On" and "Chance Of A Lifetime".

Katrenia brought an almost operatic gospel to her secular songs, the lyrics of which proclaimed her raw sensitivity in matters regarding men. She loved men fiercely and held them accountable with the same tenacity. The vocals in the verses bubbled over with passion--she was the female equivalent of Lenny Williams--but the choruses (i.e. "Holding On," "Chance Of A Lifetime") were even more spectacular: layers of swelling, hymnal-like voices.

In the last year of her life, Katrenia left behind a flawless gift, the single "To All The Good Men". It was the perfect Katrenia Jefferson vehicle, something only someone especially sensitive about men would have pounced upon to record, and something to make us realize long after her passing all that we have lost. What "The Way We Roll" is to Jackie Neal, "To All The Good Men" is to Katrenia Jefferson.

Listen to Katrenia Jefferson singing "To All The Good Men" on YouTube.

--Daddy B. Nice

Listen to Katrenia Jefferson singing "Living A Lie" on YouTube.

Listen to Katrenia Jeffrson singing "What If I" on YouTube.

February 26, 2019:

Memorial Services for Katrenia Jefferson

Memorial Service: Saturday, March 2, 2019. Word And Worship Church, 6286 Hanging Moss Road, Jackson, Mississippi.

Repast: 1 pm (after service). Central City Complex, 609 West Woodrow Wilson Ave., Jackson, Mississippi.

February 23, 2019:

ALERT!! Katrenia Jefferson Passes.

The Jackson, Mississippi "Clarion Ledger" is reporting that Katrenia L. Jefferson, 61, of Jackson, Mississippi, died February 20, 2019, in Jackson. According to the obituary, she was born June 23, 1957. No other details have been published confirming that the departed is the Katrenia Jefferson of southern soul music known for gospel-based hits such as "Chance Of A Lifetime" and "Holding On". However, Internet deejay William Bell, aka DJ Sir Rockinghood, just posted (2/21) a new mixtape titled "RIH, Gonna Miss You Lady Mix:" with the comment, "I was working on this mix and my favorite singer passes away. Katrenia Jefferson i'm gonna miss you pretty lady!!!!!!!" In the meantime, I have a query out to Jazzi A., who did the definitive interview with Katrenia in the "Jefferson Blues Magazine"....and Jazzi A. has just replied. Yes. Southern Soul's Katrenia Jefferson has died.

--Daddy B. Nice

Read Jazzi A's interview with Katrenia in "Jefferson Blues Magazine".

February 2, 2018:

There is now a two-minute sound sample (the complete song transpires over six minutes) on YouTube of Katrenia Jefferson's classic, "Chance Of A Lifetime".

Listen to Katrenia Jefferson singing "Chance Of A Lifetime" on YouTube.

April 7, 2019 Update:

There is now a complete version of Katrenia Jefferson's "Holding On" at the beginning of a ten-and-a-half minute medley on YouTube.

Listen to Katrenia Jefferson singing "Holding On" on YouTube.

Daddy B. Nice's Original Profile

Of all the great, largely-unrecorded divas in contemporary southern soul music, Katrenia Jefferson has to rank at or near the top. A gospel-singing child prodigy who grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and toured with many gospel groups (including her mother's) before branching out into R&B, including back-up stints with Willie Clayton and J. Blackfoot, Katrenia Jefferson broke out in 2012 with the Mel Waiters-produced "That Thang."

The as-written-fairly-raunchy single ironically showcased a southern soul vocalist who recalled Peggy Scott-Adams in her underlying religiosity and conviction and even her gospel-drenched carrying power.

From Daddy B. Nice's Best of 2012:

Daddy B. Nice Announces The Winners of the 2012 (6th Annual) Southern Soul Music Awards.

Best Female Vocalist: "That Thang" by Katrenia

Listen to Katrenia singing "That Thang" on YouTube.

However, years before the Waiters-produced single brought her some national visibility, Katrenia Jefferson was on Jackson (and surrounding areas) radio with a locally-produced CD on a label called Finesse, aided by legendary veterans Harrison Calloway, Frederick Knight and Rue Davis.

This undistributed CD spawned two local underground singles--both passionate but stately, amply-produced ballads in the mode of Carl Sims' "I'm Trapped" or McKinley Mitchell's "The End Of The Rainbow"--that much more accurately define Katrenia's legitimate claim to fame.

The first--now on YouTube!--is "Holding On."

Listen to Katrenia Jefferson singing "Holding On" on YouTube.

The second underground classic--not on YouTube or anywhere where the uninitiated can hear it--is "The Chance Of A Lifetime."

These two songs, with singularly-powerful lead vocals by Katrenia and full-bodied, all-embracing female choruses, are drenched in gospel atmosphere so thick that listening to them is like wrapping yourself in a southern-soul comforter.

Think of any majestic R&B song of the last fifty years--Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come"--and Katrenia Jefferson's "Holding On" can be said to continue its tradition.

"Chance Of A Lifetime," which would benefit from some exposure, is even better. Cynics might label the song sentimental, but they would be wrong. Chance Of A Lifetime is thought and feeling delivered with street-level directness, in the grittiest--yet most uplifting--way imaginable.

The song has for too long languished in southern soul limbo. Already a regional legend, Katrenia must find the courage to take the next step, however difficult, in getting the totality of her work front-and-center for a new and larger southern soul audience.

--Daddy B. Nice

About Katrenia Jefferson (Retrospective)

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Read Jazii A's interview with Katrenia Jefferson (The Katrenia Jefferson Story) in Jefferson Blues Magazine.

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To instantly link to all the awards, citations and other references to Katrenia Jefferson on the website, go to Jefferson, Katrenia, in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.

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