Soul singer Angie Stone launches comeback

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - It's apropos that soulful songstress

Angie Stone is recording her debut for Concord Music Group's reactivated Stax Records imprint at the stomping grounds of another soul soldier: Marvin Gaye.

The late artist's studio -- incubator for the classic 1976 album "I Want You" -- sits behind an imposing black gate on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. Imposing, however, melts away to mellow once you step across the threshold.

Gaye's spirit seeps through everywhere. From the walls, adorned with original portraits and photos of the artist, including one with his "I Want You" collaborator Leon Ware, also newly signed to Stax. From a hidden hallway door as you traipse upstairs to Gaye's personal sanctuary: a bedroom, bath and a smaller recording studio. From the main studio downstairs, which, like its upstairs counterpart, houses some of Gaye's original recording equipment.

Against that backdrop, a relaxed Stone previewed several songs from her new album, "The Art of Love and War," due this summer. She sang, danced and supplied her own brand of color commentary as producer/musician Jon Nettlesbey keyed up each song.

For instance, when she sat down to write the ballad "Sometimes," her inspiration was the film soundtrack to the 1974 urban drama "Claudine." She referred to another track, the uptempo "These Are the Reasons," as her "drama queen comeback." She duets with Chyno -- the Charlotte, N.C., singer/songwriter who appeared on UPN's "The Player" -- on the torchy "Half a Chance." Stone says with a laugh, "Men don't beg no more, but I've got him begging on here."

She revisits her "Patrice Rushen days" on the funky "Play With It." But the most eloquent track that drives home Stone's renewed spirit is the timeless ballad "Happy Being Me."

"When you get close to losing your life, you see it flash before you," Stone says of her bout last year with congestive heart failure. "This song is a true testament to who I am and where I am."

The tracks Stone recalled those on her emotionally charged breakthrough in 1999, "Black Diamond." That Arista set spawned the top 10 R&B hit "No More Rain (In This Cloud)." The former lead vocalist for Vertical Hold segued to J Records for two subsequent albums, "Mahogany Soul" (2001) and "Stone Love" (2004). But after the 2005 release of "Stone Hits: The Very Best of Angie Stone," the singer says she and J executives mutually agreed to part company.

Raring to move beyond the midlevel point where her career is anchored, Stone hopes to acquaint listeners with her versatility. An example -- pairing with

Josh Groban and a full orchestra on "The Prayer" for a PBS special from two years ago -- is playing on YouTube. For the aforementioned "Happy Being Me," her wish list of artists to add sweetening to the song includes a harmonica-playing

Stevie Wonder and guitarman/vocalist

John Mayer.

Before the preview ends so that Stone can do some further vocal tightening, Nettlesbey notes that

Mary J. Blige also recorded some of her Grammy-winning album "The Breakthrough" in the same studio. While absorbing that, Stone credits another force on her side.

"This business is hard," she says. "I've been waiting all these years, and I've survived." Pointing to her heart for emphasis, she adds, "But I can't be touched right now, because God has me right here."

Reuters/Billboard