Joss Stone launched her career by singing soul standards so when it came time for a reboot she went back to the beginning, dusting off the old blueprint for The Soul Sessions and following it to a T, right down to replicating its title and giving a contemporary alt-rock hit a soul makeover. First time around, the intent was to prove that teenage Joss had soul bona fides, but in 2012 the purpose of The Soul Sessions, Vol. 2 is to signal how she's done messing around with fleeting fashions and is getting back down to the real business. Stone doesn't dig deep into the crates this time around, nor does she stick to deep soul; she chooses to mine hits from the early '70s, favoring songs by the Dells, the Chi-Lites, and Sylvia, giving these smooth tunes a bit of a polished Southern spin. And "professional" is the operative word here: this is the work of seasoned veterans who play with every note falling neatly into place, stretching just enough to show off their chops but never enough to alter the DNA of a song. The exception to the rule is, of course, "The High Road," a Broken Bells song refashioned to sound old, thereby occupying the same space as Joss' White Stripes "Fell in Love with a Boy" cover did on the first Soul Sessions. This is the song to prove that Stone isn't living in the past but rather she's seeing the future through a retro prism that turns everything into something that feels classic. That Stone remains a bit too theatrical a singer, overemphasizing every phrase, is almost besides the point, as she's a diva and is expected to sing with more gusto than the song requires just as long as the overall package feels right. And, for the most part, The Soul Sessions, Vol. 2 does feel right: it has the form and sound of classic soul while never acknowledging that R&B continued to develop past, say, 1972. For an audience that agrees with that thesis, this is fun.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Wu-Tang beatmaker and mad genius producer RZA offers up a collection of inspired soul cuts from the Stax Records vaults on Shaolin Soul Selection, Vol. 1. The 24 tracks on this compilation definitely point to some of the inspirational points for RZA's raw, earthy beats, and capture the deep, late-night energy of a specific moment in '70s soul. Standout tracks include selections from the Emotions and Booker T. & the MG's as well as lengthy selections from Isaac Hayes and two very different takes on the same song, "I Forgot to Be Your Lover," as interpreted by both the Mad Lads and William Bell.© Fred Thomas /TiVo

Joss Stone launched her career by singing soul standards so when it came time for a reboot she went back to the beginning, dusting off the old blueprint for The Soul Sessions and following it to a T, right down to replicating its title and giving a contemporary alt-rock hit a soul makeover. First time around, the intent was to prove that teenage Joss had soul bona fides, but in 2012 the purpose of The Soul Sessions, Vol. 2 is to signal how she's done messing around with fleeting fashions and is getting back down to the real business. Stone doesn't dig deep into the crates this time around, nor does she stick to deep soul; she chooses to mine hits from the early '70s, favoring songs by the Dells, the Chi-Lites, and Sylvia, giving these smooth tunes a bit of a polished Southern spin. And "professional" is the operative word here: this is the work of seasoned veterans who play with every note falling neatly into place, stretching just enough to show off their chops but never enough to alter the DNA of a song. The exception to the rule is, of course, "The High Road," a Broken Bells song refashioned to sound old, thereby occupying the same space as Joss' White Stripes "Fell in Love with a Boy" cover did on the first Soul Sessions. This is the song to prove that Stone isn't living in the past but rather she's seeing the future through a retro prism that turns everything into something that feels classic. That Stone remains a bit too theatrical a singer, overemphasizing every phrase, is almost besides the point, as she's a diva and is expected to sing with more gusto than the song requires just as long as the overall package feels right. And, for the most part, The Soul Sessions, Vol. 2 does feel right: it has the form and sound of classic soul while never acknowledging that R&B continued to develop past, say, 1972. For an audience that agrees with that thesis, this is fun.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

James Brown continued to record until his death some 30 years down the road -- and even had a sizeable comeback a decade later via “Living in America” -- but the 45s collected on The Singles, Vol. 9: 1973-1975 effectively are the final act of his career: his last burst of innovation, the last time he set the scene. JB was headed out of a rough patch in 1972, a time where he adjusted to his new New York surroundings by ceding significant ground to Fred Wesley, with the end result of the JB’s sounding jazzier than ever. On the singles chronicled on The Singles, Vol. 9, quite a bit of grit goes back into the funk but there’s also a cinematic grandeur derived in no small part from the blaxploitation swagger of “The Payback,” a song written for Hell Up In Harlem in 1973 but pulled from the film when a producer mistakenly believed it wasn’t funky enough. “The Payback” is the masterpiece that anchors this entire era: it’s as down and dirty as anything the stripped-down JB’s cut at the dawn of the ‘70s but it’s as nimble and flowing as their recent jazzified sessions. Echoes of these Hell Up In Harlem sessions are heard throughout these two discs -- “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” is an outtake that turned into a number one R&B single in ‘74 -- but even before the JB’s knocked out this masterpiece they had gotten into this groove, knocking out the mesmerizing “Same Beat” (released under Fred Wesley & The JB’s) and they extended it to 1974’s “Funky President,” powered by the drumbeat that would later fuel dozens of hip-hop records. Prior to “The Payback,” James Brown had some fun experimenting -- there’s a snazzy salsa-fied duet on “Let It Be Me” with Lyn Collins (it was backed by an infectious version of Curtis Mayfield’s “It’s All Right”) and another duet with Lyn on the slow, soulful “You Can’t Beat Two People in Love” (both singles were canceled before they saw release) -- but after this flash of greatness, JB hit the wall quickly struggling to come to terms with the rise of disco by re-recording “Sex Machine,” taking young upstarts to task on the sputtering “Dead On It” then diving head-first into disco on 1975’s “Hustle!!! (Dead On It).” The smooth, glitzy surroundings of disco didn’t suit James Brown or the JB’s and pretty soon his trusted band started jumping ship with Wesley leaving in ’75. In the style that now is standard to the series -- excellent annotation by Alan Leeds, terrific sound, handsome packaging -- The Singles, Vol. 9 documents this last gasp of greatness and the sudden fall, with the latter hardly dampening the brilliance of the former even if it does illustrate why Brown would fade into the background in the latter half of the ‘70s.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Download not available

The second of the three-part Soul Gestures in Southern Blue finds Wynton Marsalis at a transitional spot in his career. While his pianist Marcus Roberts had largely found his own style, the trumpeter was still searching and had not yet thrown off the dominant Miles Davis influence. This quintet outing (which also features the tenor of Todd Williams, bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Herlin Riley) lacks any memorable melodies, although the playing is fine. But overall, the music is much more forgettable than Stanley Crouch's rather incredible liner notes. This CD can be safely passed by in favor of Marsalis' more recent projects.© Scott Yanow /TiVo