European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 8, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 scene stars and stripes sunday april 8 2007 Stone frustrated by fuss Over her musical styling i 1 y i i i 05 i c i o i o a c Joss Stone sometimes has trouble soul Singer Betty Wright stones big voice and gift for standing Tough onstage the reason she gets web changeling her sources gathered notice and soon she by stage fright the 19yearold Singer and song found herself learning at the feet of the people whose writer whose just released a third album introduce recordings had shaped her childhood reveries ing Joss Stone Learned a few years ago that the i learn from lament Dozier Gladys Knight Haiti Best Way to avoid a crowds scrutiny is to Avert your Labelle she said Nam checking one great song gaze writer and two essential divas from souls greatest i close my eyes a lot Stone said recently As she Era i sit around and soak up whatever they want unwound after taping a promotional appearance at to give me Ive had Long conversations with them a soundstage in nearby Bur Bank i dont want to know that everybody is staring at me and judging me whether they like my clothes or the color of my hair so i go into another place when i open my eyes that when i Start giggling and everything when i realize of no everybody looking at me stones nerves have been afflicting her lately and for Good reason her new album introducing is expected to be a Success from the Start yet it has been dogged by mixed reviews and growing scepticism about her integrity the album which debuted in her native England at no 12 along with a plummeting first single is a painful disappointment in Light of the artists insistence that her two previous Multi Platinum efforts did not reflect her vision and that this is her first real artistic state ment add a slagging from Fleet Street after she be have nervously at the Brit awards online fuss Over her new Pink coif and alleged marijuana use and cheap gossip about her relationships with male collaborators and Stone is facing a Savage Spring Success in the United states May be her revenge but one thing is sure the Days of simple amazement at stones monumental chops Are gone replaced by the challenges of adulthood Are the criticisms of Stone fair in both Conversa Tion and performance Stone comes off As a big Talent still discovering herself but getting sick of doing so in Public Shes a  girl but its More than just her youth and gender that set peo ple spinning the Flap Over introducing brings up issues of race authenticity and artistic License that have been debated since the Dawn of pop i learn from Lamont Dozier Gladys Knight Patti Labelle i sit around and soak up whatever they want to me my mom told m when was Young just be like a sponge and that what in trying to my mom told Rne when i was Young just be like a sponge and that what in trying to be define cd Anglo american which values individualism Over the uphold d i 2 million copies in the us respectively is now a weight around her neck introducing produced by Veteran auteur Raphael Saadiq is stones attempt to break free of the Vintage Aura of her earlier work which she feels was too uniform when you listen to the new album youre going to have to decide what you Call it because i dont know she said less s More is a reggae joint Tell me has the Bob Marley thing too music is More hiphop and arms of my baby is actually a Sals Aish track Saadiq approach which Hes been refining since his mid1 980s debut with the band Tony Toni tone is Retro futuristic he blends classic references punchy horns bubbly Bass Sassy backing singers with  studio techniques to create a sound that is modern but not trendy enlisting like minded if some arts what predictable souls like Lauryn Hill and common As guests Saadiq has created an environment Well suited to a Young Singer trying to find playing a role actually makes it a record we both hear that f theres one fault on introducing its that stones Comfort level with that tradition remains too High throughout the album she sings in a voice she Learned from those soul albums the lilt of coast Al England never surfaces crafting a new self from beloved popular cultural sources Stone is very much of her generation its her sincerity her refusal to see that identity As artificial that singles her out for Saadiq stones Affinity for Black music is part of the pop tradition he sees her As operating in the tradition of acts such As Elvis Presley the rolling stones and the beatles i cant answer Why others might come Down hard on Joss he said except that they might be Short of a history lesson Stone whose birth name is Joscelyn Stoker grew herself within a daunting Trade up in a privileged household her father is a highly successful importer of dried fruit listening to Sou music somebody told my mum that you get your pitch within the first three years of your life she said she says that i got mine from Anita Baker because she was playing her a lot after school Joss would put on Dusty Springfields greatest hits and Cook dinner for her family As the original Blu eyed soul singers voice wafted through the Kitchen Factor in her Brothers pen chant for old school hiphop dads Jam fandom and her Granny fondness for led Zeppelin and it adds up to a smorgasbord of takes on Black music players Dedica from both sides of the racial Divide Tion to the unlike Many artists who absorb these sources and Sonj then take time to make them into something new the drum Stone became a Star in her mid teens she won an to or american to Talent contest at 14 by sing ing Donna Summers on the radio and soon signed with a manager who brought her to Miami where she recorded her debut under the guidance of player los Angeles times Singer songwriter Joss Stone who has fielded questions about right to sing in a Black style Calls the debate just ridicule Tion i think we both have a love for authentic real music Saadiq said by email about the collaboration that does not mean just a live band jamming it Means that through those live musicians you create a song the song the