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[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 10/21/03 ]

Joss Stone: 'The Soul Sessions'

	R&B •  "The Soul Sessions" Joss Stone. S-Curve Records/EMI. 10 tracks. Grade: C-

Sometimes you can judge something by its cover. The photo on the CD jacket of this much-hyped debut album is a tight shot of a female singer eclipsed by a large microphone and bathed in dark purple light. Consumers are left to speculate on who exactly Joss Stone is. The honest answer? Stone is the latest musical manipulation by a corporate American record label. The girl vocally trying to establish residency in Detroit, Muscle Shoals and Memphis while attempting to pass off soul classics like "The Chokin' Kind" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" is a 16-year-old from Devon, England. She got interested in American soul music after seeing a TV commercial for an Aretha Franklin greatest hits collection when she was 10. On "Sessions," her record company has wisely surrounded Stone with real R&B talent like Betty Wright, Little Beaver Hale and Timmy Thomas. But even if Stone could somehow firm up her distracting shaky pitch, she doesn't yet have the depth or the life experience to convincingly sell the Queen of Soul's "All the King's Horses" from her classic 1972 album,"Young, Gifted and Black." One out of three ain't good.

-- Richard L. Eldredge