The 29-year-old soul-infused British songstress Joscelyn Eve Stoker, better known by her stage name Joss Stone was Burt Bacahrach’s special guest at last night’s one-off concert in London’s Royal Festival Hall. In his five-star review for the Evening Standard, Andre Paine wrote, “There may be an age difference of six decades, but the pairing of 88 year-old songwriter Burt Bacharach and a supremely soulful Joss Stone was an outstanding success. Stone’s knockout voice was tough and tender and Bacharach seemed beguiled as he played the grand piano.”

Described as a mix of R&B, reggae and blue-eyed soul, Joss has won two Brit Awards and a Grammy. She rose to fame with her 2003 debut, multi-platinum album ‘The Soul Sessions’ followed by the equally successful ‘Mind,Body & Soul’ which topped the UK charts. The album’s lead single ‘You Had Me’ was Grammy-nominated and reached the Top 10 Singles chart in 2004.

I met Joss when she arrived at the Royal Festival Hall and she a bit of fun with the sharpie signing my sketch.