SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE NO COMPARISON AS SINGERS LEAVE THEIR OWN MARK.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

Stevie Wonder 2001. Touches of Marvin Gaye. The female Sly Stone. A young Whitney Houston.

This is how some have described the sounds coming from a number of young, black and soulful newcomers. Such artists as Alicia Keys, Craig David, Bilal and India.Arie are among those who, in recent months, have drawn their inspirations from r&b's past while looking forward.

Think the 1960s soul of the Temptations, Four Tops, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin, and those that followed, like Prince and Erykah Badu, only more in line with the hip-hop generation.

These new artists have popped up on radio and MTV, and their records have been heading up the charts.

``There's a lot of creativity going on in urban music,'' said Dorsey Fuller, the music director at KKBT-FM (100.3). ``I think it's a very exciting time musically because you never know what's going to come across your desk.''

Keys, the 20-year-old classically trained pianist protege of record industry veteran Clive Davis, is currently the most sought-after singer of the neo-classic soul movement.

Long before the release of the New York native's now-famous debut, ``Songs in A Minor,'' she was whisked around the country to showcase her talent in front of industry insiders at small clubs and on ``Oprah.'' It created an instant buzz.

The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart after selling 235,000 copies until 'N Sync bumped it down a notch in its fifth week. ``Songs in A Minor'' has now sold more than 2 million copies.

Her neo-classic soul contemporaries aren't small time, either.

David, the British r&b sensation who is also 20, has scored worldwide record sales of more than 4 million copies of his ``Born to Do It.''

At 25, Atlanta-based India.Arie's guitar-driven ``Acoustic Soul'' album has toppled the 500,000-plus mark.

Philadelphia singer Bilal, 21, saw his album ``1st Born Second'' debut at No. 10 on the Billboard chart just this week and it is No. 31 on the album chart.

Neo-classic soul artists have borrowed as much from jazz and blues stylings as from classic soul. Piano, funk guitar and spirited vocals are integrated into their sound.

Songs stand on their own

``The songs are the strongest part,'' said Craig David, who was influenced early on by the likes of Terrence Trent D'Arby, Michael Jackson and Wonder. ``You can actually strip down any of the songs, take the production away and I can do it acoustically with a guitarist or a piano player or even a capella and the songs still have an energy.''

David recently demonstrated this by playing one of his singles during a live performance in Los Angeles at KKBT-FM, aka ``The Beat.'' While station employees were impressed with his raw talent, the song has generated little response. Ultimately, the station decided to drop it.

``Craig is someone that we have labored over, week in and week out, as to whether or not we should play him,'' said Fuller. ``He's come to the station, and actually did a performance on our evening show 'The B-Sides.' He brought an acoustic guitar and he did his current single, 'Fill Me In.'

``His live performance is incredible,'' he said. ``But we just have not been in the position to try playing him because his single is experiencing moderate success at r&b mainstream, and because we're getting these records that are just home runs for us.''

But just because a song or an album doesn't fit into one station's format, doesn't mean it doesn't get played elsewhere or that it stymied record sales.

Neither Bilal nor India.Arie. is played on the Beat.

In Bilal's case, the release of ``1st Born Second'' came some nine months after its single, ``Soul Sista,'' first hit.

``It took so long because of the type of album it was,'' explained Bilal, 21. ``It's not the normal album that a label would know what to do with right away. But hopefully it didn't set us back too much.''

Yet Bilal's album debuted this week at No. 10 on the Billboard r&b chart. India.Arie's album ``Acoustic Soul'' has been certified gold.

And the success of Keys has opened everyone's eyes.

`A talent in the making'

``Anybody who has heard the record would understand that she's a remarkable artist,'' said Chris Douridas, host of the music show ``Ground Zero'' heard Saturdays on KCRW-FM (89.9). ``Its a fantastic portrait of a talent in the making.''

On ``Songs in A Minor,'' Keys draws from classical, hip-hop and old-school soul singers like Roberta Flack.

The single ``Fallin' '' is a piano-driven ballad about the ups and downs of a relationship. Keys' big, emotional vocal performance is described as being reminiscent of the late Phyllis Hyman, known for her silky-voiced, jazz-influenced vocals. She's also been compared to Houston on other tracks.

One of her most stellar performances, however, is a remake of Prince's ``How Come You Don't Call Me,'' which has been called a showstopper.

She can ``take a song like 'How Come You Don't Call Me' and make it all her own, which she's done,'' Douridas said. ``These are all remarkable qualities in a person of not just her age; I don't want to reduce it to her age. At any age, she's a talent.''

Keys started working toward becoming a star at 7, when she studied piano, followed by dance and voice lessons in later years.

She attended a performing arts high school in her home state of New York, graduating at 16. She then dropped out of Columbia University to pursue music full-time.

In 1998, she met Davis.

The industry legend, responsible for launching the careers of such singers as Houston and Patti Smith, signed Keys to Arista Records and then to his own J Records.

Davis described Keys as ``a stunning beauty, a unique writer of songs. ... She is the combination of the best of what you want.''

Her braided hair and pretty, almond-shaped eyes demonstrate her presence, and that, combined with her talent, has made Keys one of the hottest new stars in r&b.

Great expectations

``I do definitely expect to take the world by storm,'' she said. ``I absolutely intend to do that.''

Douridas was bowled over when he saw Keys give a stirring rendition of Donny Hathaway's ``Someday We'll All Be Together.'' ``She brought me to tears,'' he said. ``I was beside myself.''

During the show, Keys vamped impressively from one style of music to the next as she laid down her background from honky-tonk to classical to r&b and beyond.

``You go into these things and you're not quite sure what you're going to get with a new artist because you haven't had a chance to see her perform live and you haven't really had the chance to get to know her yet,'' said Douridas. ``More than meeting my expectations, she surpassed them.

``I think this girl has the makings for a long career.''

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

ALICIA KEYS

Where: House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood.

When: 8 p.m. Monday (sold out) and Tuesday.

Tickets: $26. Call [phone].

CHARITY JAM, FEATURING ALICIA KEYS

Where: Hard Rock Cafe, Universal CityWalk.

When: 9 p.m. Aug. 29.

Tickets: $75 to $175. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, drawing

Drawing:

(cover -- color) the Soul of New Soul

Alicia Keys, India.Arie and Craig David lead a pack of young artists looking back to get to the top of the charts

Illustration by Jorge Irribarren/Staff artist

Photo: (1) Alicia Keys has been compared to Whitney Houston, but some say she can sing other vocalists' songs and make them her own.

Jim Cooper/Associated Press

(2) BILAL

(3) CRAIG DAVID

(4) INDIA.ARIE