In Brief

*** Mavis Staples, “The Voice,” Paisley Park. Staples’ sexy, sanctified phrasing, long one of the pleasures of R&B; music, is put to good use on the Rodney King-inspired title track. Other songs, “You Will Be Moved” among them, sound equally drawn from the more soul-wrenching news stories of the day. Conversely, “Melody Cool” is pure funk for funk’s sake. This Prince-produced product is prime-time Staples. New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).