The new diva of soul

Here name is Joss Stone. Her talent is undeniable. Her voice is hypnotizing hundreds. And she’s ready to take on the world as the Mistress of Soul for the new generation. This 16-year-old British girl is already being touted as "the new Aretha Franklin" an honor she claims is "bigger than anything I had ever anticipated."

Indeed Joss Stone has definitely sent waves rippling through the musical community with her amazing soulful vocals and old school style. To look at her one would hardly believe this young, blonde, and very fair-skinned girl possesses such powerful soulful pipes. Those who have never seen her and have heard her music are constantly amazed that the somewhat Christina/Britney-looking singer belts out emotion-filled tunes with a panache equal to the likes of Betty Wright and her confessed diva idol Aretha Franklin whose compilation CD propelled Joss into her first appreciation of soul music.

"My parents would play loads of different stuff around the house so growing up I really got the chance to appreciate all kinds of music – reggae, rock, pop, soul, R&B. From whatever I’d hear I’d just choose the ones that I felt my soul connected with. Soon after, I got a CD – the first I’d ever owned – and it was Aretha Franklin’s Greatest Hits. I saw the advert on TV and I found myself connecting to her songs. I really love Aretha. She has this light about her. It’s like she’s got this really cool vibe that’s really spiritual and quite beautiful as well."

It all began there. And now, Joss Stone is assuredly shining a light of her own. One can’t help but notice her voice. It’s strong and sensuous yet also confident and alluring. It begins in a whisper and reaches a crescendo all in the same breath. As Jay Jacobs said in an article about this diva of soul: "She doesn’t fall victim to the showiness of Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera wannabes. This woman ain’t gonna use 10 notes when one is good enough, even if she has the ability to do so. The voice is the sound of a soul mama." High praise indeed for this 16-year-old.

Looking back, I remember the first time I saw the advert for her album, entitled "The Soul Sessions," on television a few weeks ago. I heard her singing her hit single Fell in Love with a Boy (a remake of the White Stripes’ old favorite Fell in Love with a Girl) while working on my computer and I automatically had to look at the screen. Her soulful and sultry voice is instantly captivating and I was quite shocked to see that the astonishing vocal prowess belonged to the somewhat giggly young girl with a sweet British lilt in her voice when she spoke.

"A lot of people have been asking how I feel about the surprised reaction everyone has to my appearance but really I don’t think that soul should be limited to older black women. I’m young and I’m white – so what? I love the music and I sing it from my soul," she claims candidly.

Joss’ career began quite by fate. Like American Idol which, despite the media hype and craziness surrounding it, has produced quite unbelievable talent such as Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, and Clay Aiken, Joss got her big break by joining a talent show on television called Star for a Night when she was just 14 years old. She sang (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman and It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay and through the show she instantly found her management. The music bigwigs wasted no time knowing they’d struck gold with this Devon native and, after changing her last name for her singing career, began preparations for her first solo album.

Initially the idea was for her to record an album of her original songs with just an introduction of well-respected soul covers to show off her vocal prowess. But while recording, her producer Steven Greenberg and her collaborator ’70s siren Betty Wright realized Joss’ amazing ability to bring new life to old soul hits and decided to go with an entire cover album before releasing Stone’s originals slated for her second album next year.

"Steve got the idea to include soul classics about halfway into recording. Like maybe only three or four tracks. But the more we worked on it, the bigger and bigger it became," Joss explains. "It just kinda snowballed. And to think, it was only supposed to be my album introduction."

At the onset of recording this new album idea Greenberg tasked Wright to hunt down her old soul compatriots for the team like Timmy Thomas for the organ, Latimore on piano, and Willie "Little Beaver" Hale on guitars. Through a little detective work Betty Wright was able to contact the old greats and they all agreed to come in and jam. From then on it was a whirlwind coming up with the roster for the CD. In the end what was produced was a delightful pastiche of long forgotten jams like Super Duper Love (Are you Diggin’ on Me) by Sugar Billy, Betty Swann’s Victim of a Foolish Heart and Laura Lee’s Dirty Man, all well-loved soul classics but reinvented with Joss Stone’s signature spunk and originality.

"When I was rehearsing for the album I tried not to listen to the original recordings of the songs too much," explains Joss. "I just basically tried to get the melody down and then interpret the songs myself later on. Sometimes I would add nuances in the middle of recording a piece. Honestly, I’m just making it up as I go along. Luckily, soul is pretty much sung that way anyway so no one really had any problems with it. I just wanted to still be able to infuse a taste of me in these classic songs."

She accomplished her goal spectacularly and "Soul Sessions" was released to rapturous praise. Barely a year into the biz, Joss has already made herself a household name with lovers of that old time soul funk. Not to mention she’s already considered a diva. She’s set to join Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry of Blondie, pop knockout Kylie Minogue, Patti LaBelle, and Jessica Simpson on stage at this year’s VH1 Divas concert on April 18 in Las Vegas.

"I really am very lucky," Joss says with a smile. "It’s all been happening so fast for me and I know there are so many talented people out there still waiting for their big break. It’s true, sometimes it just happens."

So what’s in store for this soul sister now after the success of her first venture? Joss returns to her thoughts about her original album slated to be released next year. "This one will be more about songs that I wrote and what comes from me," she shares in her charming rather soft British-tinged voice. "It’ll be a mix of different types of music – pop, reggae, R&B, and of course soul. After all, I can’t deny soul’s what it’s all about, baby!"

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Heard any good music lately? Mail me at aquamarine_tranquility@yahoo.com.