Everyone has their definition of what it means to be a soul singer. To some it's Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding or Luther Vandross.
To others it's Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, Wynonna or Darryl Hall.
To me, it's a culmination of all those artist and more. See, Soul is something that comes from that place deep in the heart, deep in the soul, if you will. 

I witnessed Soul recently at The Last Concert Cafe' when I went to see Kenneth Scott and The Cosmic Party perform. At first glance Kenneth Scott doesn't strike you as someone with soul. Heck he doesn't strike you as someone who can sing.

Kenneth Scott has the appearance of a guy who loves rock and roll and going to the beach, just hanging out. But looks can be deceiving. Kenneth Scott is by all definitions a big guy, who is immensley talented, more kind than a teddy bear and real cool to talk to.  Forget the fact that Kenneth is a big white guy  who seems like he'd be more comfortable at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert than an Al Green concert. Let's forget that for a minute and focus on the music. Ahh, yes..the music. Dude is bad assed. He's cold, he's superbad.

Oh, and he plays a mean guitar. His band, is by definition incredibly talented. The guys are, (in the words of James Brown), on the one, and they are good at what they do.

The most striking thing about this band though is the vocals. Kenneth has that old, aching soul in his voice and  his lyrics are acutely beautiful and haunting. He's a rock dude by every definition, but deep down you get every sense of a SOUL singer aching to reach out to the masses. The only thing missing from this band is two soulful/church bred female background vocalist, (ie; black soul sistahs). That's a small issue and I'm sure by the end of next month, one that will be remedied.

Having known Kenneth Scott for a few years now, I had no idea he was this talented. Sure, I've seen him perform acoustic shows, and yes we've sat down and chatted, had breakfast together and we've broken bread together, but I've never witnessed Kenneth Scott at home in his element; on a big stage. I can't say enough about his original compositions which are inspiring, and that's just saying the least of what could be said about them and if you read between the lines...that's a lot!

I left  the venue in awe at what I had heard and seen. I called a friend of mine I had invited and I told him he missed a great show. I told him that I had seen the best of The Black Crowes mixed with the cool of Bob Marley, the gospel of Steven Curtis Chapman and yes the soul...the soul of  
a true musician...a musician on a mission.