Charlie keeps it light; Disney a carbon copy

Lithe-voiced Charlie Wilson, once the singer of the Gap Band, now an old-school talisman for Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West and Bruno Mars, makes decent R&B records; he reminds you of his past as an important link between the epic, chanting funk of the ’70s and the clipped, efficacious, electronic funk of the ’80s.

Forever Charlie plays lightly with nostalgia. The standout songs tend to be produced by the Cartoons, who go in more heavily for updating old-school details — Gap Band grooves, vocoders, 1950s-ballad triplets — and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who take hard right turns like putting sequencers and keyboard sounds on “Things You Do” to make you think of the Miami Vice soundtrack. You don’t necessarily see that coming. Here’s what you do see coming: A cameo by Snoop Dogg (on “Infectious”) and an easy-tempo reggae tune with Shaggy (“Unforgettable”).

Above all, Wilson keeps it light. He’s a great singer who knows it’s not all about him.

Hot tracks: “Things You

Do,” “Infectious,” “Unforgettable.”

— BEN RATLIFF

The New York Times

There’s no doubt the Disney factory has turned out some catchy hit songs over the years and 20 of them are gathered together in this collection, this time sung by London stage performers with sweeping orchestral backup.

The selections skew to the last 25 years, with some samples from older classics such as Mary Poppins (surprisingly leaden), Pinocchio and The Jungle Book.

The problem is, one is left wondering — Why? The songs are pretty much the songs you’d expect to see on a Disney “best of” collection: “Colors of the Wind” for Pocahontas, “A Whole New World” for Aladdin. And, yes, “Let It Go” from Frozen. There’s nothing people haven’t heard a million times.

While the singers are good and talented, they’re basically mimicking the original performers. It’s fine, but it’s basically a carbon copy — not quite as sharp as the original.

Hot tracks: “Reflection,” “Ev’rybody Wants to be a Cat,” “When You Wish Upon a Star.”

— JENNIFER NIXON

Yet another standards collection by yet another jazz singer could easily lead to a “so what?” reaction. But Brit singer Jamie Cullum is an energetic, supple and playful singer on this inviting collection; sometimes his voice suggests Harry Connick Jr.

Cullum’s latest opens with a wonderful take on “Interlude,” a Dizzy Gillespie tune about a love affair that is, well, a brief interlude. It gets a telling vocal from Cullum, who draws out the vowels … suggesting this is a love he doesn’t want to let go.

Some of his musical choices are unexpected. Randy Newman’s “Losing You” is tender, Sufjan Stevens’ haunting “The Seer’s Tower” evokes Nina Simone-like drama. It doesn’t always work, though. “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” is a mismatch with singer Gregory Porter, who is very soulful, and the blend with Cullum’s voice just doesn’t jell.

But, the wonderful Laura Mvula and Cullum are magical on the haunting and elegant “Good Morning Heartache.”

Hot tracks: “Good Morning Heartache,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” Ray Charles’ swinging “Don’t You Know.”

— ELLIS WIDNER

Twee-pop purveyors Belle & Sebastian sound suitably refreshed after a five-year breather on Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. Leader Stuart Murdoch is back in action after making his directorial debut on last year’s teen romance God Help the Girl, in which he got to work out his obsessions with pop history in a charmingly lightweight movie musical.

Here, Murdoch goes searching for inspiration at the oldtime dance hall on “Everlasting Muse” and takes his poetic preoccupations to the disco on “Enter Sylvia Plath” and “Perfect Couples.” But Girls in Peacetime also has weightier, more adult concerns, with the band uncharacteristically dabbling in political matters in “Nobody’s Empire” and “Today (This Army’s for Peace).”

And Girls gets personal, too, particularly on the lovely, soul-searching, and ultimately hopeful “Ever Had a Little Faith?”

Hot tracks: “Everlasting Muse,” “Perfect Couples,” “Ever Had a Little Faith?”

— DAN DELUCA

The Philadelphia Inquirer

B Charlie Wilson

Forever Charlie

P Music/RCA

B Belle & Sebastian

Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance

Matador C Stars of the London Stage The Essential Disney Collection

Silva Screen

B Jamie Cullum

Interlude

Island/Blue Note