In Brief

* * * Funky Poets, “True to Life,” Epic. You want doo-wop crooning? Earth, Wind & Fire-style pop-soul? Down-home funk? This group can deliver all that while spinning hard-edged, hopeful tales of urban life--as in “1975,” a poignant remembrance of a child’s murder. This New York quartet is easily the most versatile new group to emerge in R&B; circles in the past year.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). A rating of five stars (a classic) is reserved for retrospective albums.