MSN Entertainment

For baby boomers, soul music will always be identified with the 1960s, a golden age of classic records splicing R&B's deep blues and gospel roots with the sleeker accents of pop and rock. Yet if the "old school" soul minted in Memphis, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago and points beyond lives on as a durable oldies franchise, the music's influence has proven hardy indeed.

Soul revivals have occurred with reassuring frequency, if not always with fanfare, and new generations of musicians around the world keep coming back to its emotional directness and deep grooves. Four decades on, soul appears to be spawning a bumper crop of strong new recordings from both young acolytes and soul survivors who have found new fans, not just rekindled their old fans' nostalgia.