The first time I heard anything about Joss Stone, I believe it was David Letterman introducing her as an amazing 16 year old British phenomenon. Before long I noticed that she was hot beyond her 16 years and then I noticed that she was gifted well beyond her 16 years and then when the chorus came around I noticed she was singing a down-tempo R&B version of my favorite White Stripes song. ("Fell in love with a Boy") How cool is this?

Upon further study, I must say this is a very compelling story, this Joss Stone, and there will be few music critics foolish enough not to give this project very high marks. As the story goes Joss was about to record her wannabe pop smash debut and then be well on her way to becoming the next Britney/Christina. Until one fine day when she happened onto an ear-full of some eclectic American Miami soul made by a host of retro soul singers, particularly Betty Wright, and at least for the time being fell for this stuff and pointed her prodigious young larynx in the direction of an album of cover tunes. The Soul Sessions being the result of this supreme serendipity.

First of all this young lady can flat out sing, were not talking about the ostentatious vocal gymnastics of say Mariah Carey, she gets by just fine with her gritty and thoughtful interpretations. The only commercial artist that she could be compared to would be Shelby Lynne's Identity Crisis and I Am Shelby Lynne records. It comes off with just the right amount of raw quality, to keep it down in your guts, and if you're familiar with some of these classics, they should reverberate upward toward your heart.

The project was brought to the attention of Betty Wright whom along with Steve Greenberg oversaw much of the production, and even though I must confess that there were a few of these songs I wasn't familiar with, that's the wisdom of the Soul Sessions. They chose to stay away from the more obvious classics and concentrate on lesser known gems from artists like Harlan Howard, Bobby Miller, Aretha Franklin, Carla Thomas - which takes your mindset away from the fact that she's singing cover songs. With the exception of John Ellis' "Some Kind of Wonderful," which was covered by Grand Funk Railroad in the early 70's, so it's familiar to me, you can just get lost in this stuff.

Our hats have to be off to young Miss Stone who has, for the time, eschewed the Diva manufacturing plant and can, at the very least, look back upon these days fondly after she's locked lips with Madonna. I could go on and on about this record, (the credits list over 50 musicians who contributed their talents and it's all paid off in ways that few things do in these days of Record Company panic and Piracy the biggest issue on the minds of people who got into the business in the first place to make great records. Here's to you all! For proving that there's still a little soul left out there.