We take a look at some of the hottest albums released this week including the latest offerings from Norah Jones, the Klaxons and Jazz legend Miles Davis.

POP

Norah Jones
Not Too Late (Blue Note/EMI)
***
Review: John Aizlewood

Only 27, Ravi Shankar's daughter has already carved out a niche for herself as the easygoing mistress of coffee-table neo-jazz. Wisely, after her previous two albums sold 10 million copies apiece, Not Too Late ploughs much the same furrow, save for the absence of cover versions or anything quite as majestic as Come Away With Me. So without ever quite catching fire or changing pace, she glides along seductively through tales of lovers sent to war (Wish I Could), of unashamed romanticism (Be My Somebody), and in My Dear Country, adds a hint of lyrical edge. The best comes towards the end, with the gorgeous Rosie's Lullaby and Not Too Late, which couldn't be more uplifting if it had been sponsored by Gossard.

Klaxons
Myths of the Near Future (Polydor)
***
Review: David Symth

This colourful New Cross trio were the subject of last year's deafening buzz and nu-wave was their new sound. Sadly they've turned out to be a pretty straightforward proposition, with only the odd siren and a cheeky cover of Grace's mid-Nineties house hit Not Over Yet, indicating that they are anything other than this year's Hard-Fi. There's a manic energy that comes more from punk than dance, keeping things interesting on Totem on the Timeline, while Gravity's Rainbow shows a knack for a memorable chorus. But after all that early promise this isn't worth really raving about.

Just Jack
Overtones (Mercury)
****
Review: Chris Elwell-Sutton

London singer/rapper/songwriter Just Jack is being widely lauded thanks to new single Starz in Their Eyes - a catchy, timely assault on the Pop Idol generation. He's by no means part of some edgy street movement, though, as he acknowledges on the folk-flavoured Hold On. Happy to be an observer of youth culture rather than a spokesman for it, he paints a spot-on picture of a typical London clubber on Disco Friends. He may not offer the rap skills of Dizzee Rascal, the poetic ability of Mike Skinner or the shock factor of Plan B, but Just Jack's chilled-out, accessible sound masks a refreshing lack of self-obsession. This album establishes Just Jack as the most thoughtful new voice in the British pop scene.

JAZZ
Miles Davis
Very Best of the Warner Bros Sessions 1985-91 (Rhino Records)
***
Review: Jack Massarik

The final phase of Miles Davis's amazing career was the most colourful. Ageing and frail, but still charismatic, he gloried in his stadiumrock status, glamming it up and savouring some of the mainstream adulation (and money) Jimi Hendrix had briefly known. These gems remind us of Davis's sensuous trumpet tone (Time After Time, In a Silent Way), his perceptive teamwork with altoist Kenny Garrett (Amandla, Hannibal), his laid-back exploitation of bassist Marcus Miller's funkadelia (Tutu) and his luxuriant revisitation of big-band scores by Gil Evans (Summertime), Michel Legrand (Trumpet Cleaner) and Quincy Jones (The Pan Piper).

WORLD
Bi Kidude
The Diva of Zanzibari Music (Buda)
****
Simon Broughton

Bi Kidude is from Zanzibar, off the Swahili coast of East Africa. At around 90 years old - nobody knows exactly - she lives life to the full. "I drink. I smoke. I do not need a microphone", is how she famously described her lifestyle. This is an excellent collection of recordings. There are some tracks made just last year with a small intimate ensemble, but others with a larger band dating back to 1988. At the heart of the disc is female initiation msondo music, Bi Kidude's speciality, which is driven by drum rhythms and raucous call-and-response vocals. A fitting tribute to a remarkable woman.