About
She may not impact the charts in any significant way, but that may just
be a sign that Leela James is doing something right. Like a few other
talented soul divas these days (who can't seem to elbow anemic-voiced waifs out
of the way fast enough), this LA native is on a one-woman quest to
resurrect the "soul" in neo-soul, and if her 2005 release A Change Is Gonna
Come is any indication, she's on the right track. A small woman
with a high speaking voice, James shakes the rafters when she sings,
expressing the kind of passion and pathos that once gave soul music its name. Her voice rivals Me'Shell Ndegeocello's for sheer intensity, but James
proves the more supple of the two, playfully slipping into upper registers
whenever she needs to.
- Sarah Bardeen
