Mondo Grosso - Born Free (1995)

The second Mondo Grosso LP is an R&B extravaganza, continually referencing disco, house, jazz-rap, quiet storm, or rare-groove over the course of its dozen tracks. The production and engineering are uniformly impeccable, but occasionally the resemblances to stylish, jazzy R&B -- complete with disco strings, offhanded piano comping, rote basslines, and extroverted diva vocals -- are so dead-on, and the songwriting so superficial, that the result can't help but be a little bland, recalling Steely Dan almost as much as Massive Attack. Two of the first three tracks, "Do You See What I See" and "Family," definitely fall into that trap, though a few laid-back hip-hop tracks ("Hemisphere," "What Goes up Must Come Down," "Life Without Spring") and the Brazilian-tinged "Running Man" (with Monday Michiru) do rescue the proceedings. Osawa is also guilty of burying one of the best tracks, "Give Me a Reason," at the end of the album. Led by chunky beats and understated keys, guest Jhelisa contributes a tender vocal which verges into a beautiful scatting bridge. -- John Bush