JOSS STONE The Soul Sessions (2003 UK CD featuring classic soul covers alongside reworkings of songs by John Sebastian and The White Stripes featuring collaborations with Angie Stone & The Roots picture sleeve CDREL2) Joss Stone is blessed with a strong voice and a will to sing old-school soul and The Soul Sessions is worthy of more than novelty status. Not every 16-year-old Caucasian, English girl can hang with the likes of ("Clean Up Woman") and (no relation). Wisely avoiding iconic songs by the genre's biggest names, Stone and a production team that includes Wright opt for lesser-known tunes by the likes of , and the Soul Brothers Six--not to mention their digging out (with guest coproducer ?uestlove from the ) the great soul lyric in the ' "Fell in Love with a (Boy)". Joss Stone occasionally misses a connection; her "Some Kind of Wonderful" is listless and when she develops a bit more subtlety, it'll be welcome. But The Soul Sessions has a spark beyond the album's obvious good taste. --Rickey Wright