Ozzy Osborne's latest disc disappoints, Sophie Ellis-Bextor releases a fun-filled opus and G Love get busy with some serious funk in this week's album reviews.

POP Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain (Epic)
**
It's easy to forget that Ozzy Osbourne is supposed to make records for a living. Black Rain is his first selfpenned album in six years and it's as if the Nineties (don't even mention the 21st century) never happened - though he does share his views about the Iraq war on Countdown's Begun: not going too well, he reveals. Otherwise, it's fairly adequate lumpen metal enlivened by the occasional scuzzy guitar solo. Distracted Osbourne is the weak link. A man who has trouble speaking, let alone singing, he sounds as if he's mumbling from the Autocue, whether he's dealing with crystal meth (Silver), his wife's cancer (Lay Your World on Me), or whining about capitalism on God Bless the Almighty Dollar. Inconsequential.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Trip the Light Fantastic (Fascination)
****
After retreating to her less glitzy Britpop roots on her last album Shoot from the Hip, and getting married and having a baby since, Sophie Ellis-Bextor could have been expected to reveal even more maturity on her third solo release. Instead, thankfully, she and several high-profile songwriters have opted to make music that is a release from domestic life. There's barely room for a ballad amid the glitterball synths, high-energy house beats and swirling disco strings. The bouncing bass and handclaps of Only One, by Dan Gillespie Sells of The Feeling, is the quirky standout, but Xenomania's catchy Europop on If You Go and the racing drums of Cathy Dennis's Catch You are also winners.
DAVID SMYTH

G Love
Lemonade (Brushfire/Island)
****
Since technology blitzkrieged dance music, there has been a dearth of what might be described as organic funk, with jumping drums, itchy bass and a guitar joining in a second or two after you expect. G Love and his sidekicks Special Sauce have been ploughing this particular furrow for years. Lemonade is not a radical departure from the recipe as previously delivered, just a refresher course in the simple virtues of excellent playing and good taste. There is nothing here to exercise the brain, just 14 songs to exercise the dance limbs. There is very little music around that makes you smile internally. Lemonade is that type of music.
PETE CLARK

JAZZ

Hiromi's Sonic Boom
Time Control (Telarc Records)
****
Japanese jazz artists don't do laidback, but they do understand uptempo thrash and its necessary concentration. Hiromi, a 26-year-old pianist who begins three nights at Ronnie Scott's on Monday, writes and plays music of stimulating energy and precision. Her dynamic new album, recorded in Nashville of all places, features UK bassist Tony Grey, Slovakian drummer Martin Valhora and US guitarist David "Fuze" Fiuczynski, blistering jazz-rock frontman of the Screaming Headless Torsos. Add the wailing ageless teachings of Hiromi's keyboard mentors (Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea and Ahmad Jamal) and you get witty originals (Real Clock Vs Body Clock = Jet Lag) of real momentum. The title track is terrific.
JACK MASSARIK

WORLD

Robert Fonseca
Zamazu (Enja) •••••
The young Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca has been hailed in London for his contribution to the Buena Vista Social Club concerts, which showcased his incredible ensemble playing. On his debut CD he reveals a wider stylistic palette, ranging from classic Cuban numbers like Triste Alegria, to the Abdullah Ibrahim composition Ishmael, and demonstrates his formidable talent for Latin Jazz. Surprisingly for a piano album, it opens with the solo female vocals of Mercedes Cortes Alfaro, Fonseca's mother, who is an inspiration for several of the tracks. Others are dedicated to Buena Vista bassist Cachaíto López and to the vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer, celebrated in the standout track El Niejo.
SIMON BROUGHTON