Entertainment

06:11 PM CDT on Friday, October 22, 2004

R&B

Toshi
Grade: B+
Time To Share
(Sony Urban Music/Epic)
In stores now

He's had a steady diet of soul food since the beginning, collecting old-school R&B vinyl on the sly while watching Soul Train reruns and perfecting his soothing tenor in clubs. Japan's Toshi Kubota may not look like the average soul crooner, but Time To Share shows that true soul resides in the heart, not in nationality or skin color.

Toshi's rich blend of neo-soul and true-school R&B abounds, from the urgent, shuffling backbeat wrapped around the love jones of "Neva Satisfied," to the tender "Beating of my Heart." "Hold Me Down" features a frequent lyrical collaborator, Angie Stone, and Mos Def bestows a kiss of cool to the uptempo "Living for Today." "Shadows of Your Love" and "It's Time" are also seductive jams.

Mr. Kubota produced and co-wrote the entire album, and his soul brother credentials have been endorsed by the likes of ?uestlove and Raphael Saadiq. Once listeners get an earful, they'll have no choice but to groove right along.

Lorrie Irby

Raphael Saadiq
Grade: B+
As Ray Ray
(Pookie Entertainment)
In stores now

Chalk up ambition as one of Raphael Saadiq's strengths.

The former Tony Toni Tone frontman turns his second solo disc into a conceptual experience. Starring as "soul brother No. 1," Ray Ray, he spoofs '70s blaxploitation films on the disc's intro and in the funny story line in the CD booklet.

Ah, but there was classic music in those films. So goes As Ray Ray, with the sturdy funk of "Ray Ray Theme" and the light, mellow grooves of "This One" and "Detroit Girl."

There are some slow moments. The sluggish "I Love Her" and "Save Us" drag on, and you'll want to skip to the more energetic tunes.

But you can give Raphael a pass when he makes songs as strong as the struggling-family themed "Grown Folks." The high-pitched wail of a chorus is straight from the book of Curtis Mayfield. It would've fit in 30 years ago, and sounds great today.

Rob Clark

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LATIN

A.B. Quintanilla III Presents Kumbia Kings
Grade: C
Fuego
(EMI Latin)
In stores now

After one listen to Kumbia Kings' fourth studio album, Fuego, a quick question comes to mind – what happened? A.B. Quintanilla's band had been on a steady artistic climb that peaked with 2003's hip, streetwise 4. But Fuego has no edge. It sounds like a frothy boy-band disc that just happens to be sung mostly in Spanish.

Maybe the departure of singer-songwriters DJ Kane and Frankie J left a significant void. Their smooth, R&B-dipped voices sure are missed. Or perhaps Mr. Quintanilla and right-hand-man Cruz Martinez didn't try hard enough this time.

They mustered the pop hooks on "Viento," "Ella Sabe" (which builds on the instrumental track of Steely Dan's "Do It Again"), "If You Leave" and the title cut. A cover of Musical Youth's '80s pop hit, "Pass the Dutchie," is fun for a minute. Then it's just disposable, like the rest of the album.

Mario Tarradell

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CLASSICAL

Mendelssohn, Dvorak
Grade: A
Piano Trios Beaux Arts Trio
(Warner Classics 2564-61492-2)

The great Beaux Arts Trio is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new version of the first piece it ever recorded, Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1. Miraculously, the group's original pianist, Menahem Pressler, is still his glorious self, playing with a nimble refinement that puts almost all other chamber-music pianists to shame.

This CD marks the debut of the trio's newest member, violinist Daniel Hope. As his terrific current recital disc, East Meets West, also proves, Mr. Hope has a big musical personality. His delicacy can equal Mr. Pressler's – just listen to the whispered pianissimos. Yet he can dig into peasant rhythms with earthy glee, as he does in the other work here, Dvorak's "Dumky" Trio.

Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses makes a great match for his partners. As long as Mr. Menahem, now 81, continues on this level, the future of this musical institution looks good as ever.

Lawson Taitte

Elgar
Grade: A-
Violin Concerto Hahn, Davis. (Deutsche Grammophon B0003026)

Elgar's Violin Concerto, once considered stuffy, might just be the richest and most rewarding piece in the entire repertoire. It combines melodic simplicity and harmonic density, classical proportions and structural innovation.

Many young soloists have tackled it over the years. The latest, Hilary Hahn, takes a relatively straightforward view of the work. Some find her sound too plush with vibrato and too unvaried, but here her violin projects the angelic soul that the composer worked so hard to capture in his music.

The drama in this performance comes primarily from Colin Davis' London Symphony Orchestra. These players never produce a neutral phrase; everything is shaped toward finding a precise meaning or building a suitable climax.

The Elgar is all about ecstasy, and so is Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, which depicts union with nature rather than union between two souls, but the basic idea is close enough.

Lawson Taitte