EVER since the  halcyon days when she  performed for the likes  of Martin Luther King  and John F Kennedy,  the inspirational soul  singer Mavis Staples  has stamped her  individual mark on the  world of music and  entertainment.

Now at 68 she is still  cutting it and touring  with the Mississippi- born Jhelisa and a  wonderful three-piece  band that includes jazz  pianist Robert  Mitchell.

Mavis has shared the  limelight with the  crème de la crème of  the show business  glitterati; such iconic  figures as Bob Dylan,  Aretha Franklin and  the late Janis Joplin to name just a few.

In a series of special concerts throughout the UK, Mavis is revisiting  her earlier Staples  Singers classics, such  as Respect Yourself,  and songs from the  Civil Rights era in the  USA which were  featured last year on  her Ry Cooder- produced solo album  We'll Never Turn Back.

Mavis and Jhelisa -  cousin of Carleen Anderson and niece of James Brown -  are two of the most  powerful voices in soul  and gospel music.

And the band also  takes in Mavis's sister  Yvonne, with Chavonne  Morris and Donny  Gerard on backing  vocals, among others.

Tagged the Down in  Mississippi tour, the  concerts also see  Jhelisa perform her  own unique  arrangements of songs  such as Suzanne, You'll  Never Walk Alone and  Feeling Good.

* MAVIS STAPLES and  Jhelisa, at the  Liverpool  Philharmonic Hall,  Friday, April 11.  Tickets 0151 709 3789.