Soul Does The Healing For Compendia's Osborne
copywrited September 14, 2002, Billboard Magazine; Reprinted by permission of Editor
by BPI Communications Inc. and VNU eMedia
With the Sept. 17 release of How Sweet It Is, Joan Osborne sets out to show that she's still "one of us" by revisiting classic '60s and '70s R&B hits to reflect a post-Sept. 11 American's everyday concerns.

It's been seven years since Osborne's 1995 debut, Relish (Mercury) and it's subsequent hit single, "One of Us." Despite having less commercial impact, her subsequent set, 2000's Righteous Love (Interscope), further established her as a distinctive artist. With the partnership of her own label, Womanly Hips and Compendia Music Group, Osborne's How Sweet It Is shows her offering a full slate of previously recorded tunes.

For Osborne, this set allowed her to reflect on how the tragedy of Sept. 11 affected her. "As a native New Yorker, more than anything, I felt the need to help out," she says. "I tried to do my part in volunteering, etc. But after a while, I found myself running away from the essential question of what does an artist do to help out in this situation."

She continues, "I have great respect for Bruce Springsteen, but for me to write an entire record on this [topic] would take a long time. I wanted to find a way to do this album in a way for it to have a strong relevance to this situation. So, rather than try to avoid the question, I was reminded of great soul songs from eras where people faced the same types of socio-economical and political concerns we do today. That's what put the wheels in motion for doing this type of record. I chose the songs that I felt best represented the same feelings that people feel today."

How Sweet It Is includes songs previously made popular by such artists as Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, and Marvin Gaye, among others. "[This] shouldn't be passed off as a covers album," admonishes Compendia Music Group VP Walt Wilson. "Joan's taken these beloved songs and reinvented them. How Sweet It Is is more of an interpretive album than a covers album."

Osborne reveals, "I feel like the quintessential versions of these songs have already been made. I tried to approach them in a way where I could feel authentic. Together with [producer] John Leventhal, we wanted to present a fresh and modern approach to hopefully make you hear the lyrics in a way that you haven't before."

The set's promotional plan will be patterned after those for Diana Krall and Norah Jones, in that they will be geared at several genres. Also, much emphasis will be placed on lifestyle marketing, and an extensive concert tour is planned to begin in late September.

Wilson notes, "Joan appeals to such a wide audience in multiple demographics. We think that she can bridge gaps."

Osborne is managed by David Sonenberg at DAS Communications in New York. She is booked by Jonathan Levine at Monterey Peninsula Artists in Los Angeles.