MUSIC: Funky, jazzy Osborne to play

LITTLE ROCK — Jeffrey Osborne, whose sound has moved seamlessly through rhythm and blues to soul, funk and smooth jazz, will headline the 2008 summer concert series at Timberwood Amphitheater at Magic Springs & Crystal Falls amusement park in Hot Springs this weekend.

Osborne and his band will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the park, 1701 E. Grand Ave. (U.S. 70 East) in Hot Springs.

Admission is $45.99; $35.99 for children who are less than 52 inches tall, and for adults 55 and older; or $49.99 for a season pass good for all concerts and unlimited admission all season. Reserved seats are an additional $5 each. Call (501) 624-0100.

Osborne, 60, was born in Providence, R.I., the youngest of 12 children (six boys and six girls).His father was Clarence "Legs" Osborne, a trumpeter who played with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Jeffrey Osborne was 13 when his father died.

He got his musical start as a 15-year-old, when he sat in with the O'Jays because their drummer was unable to play. He kept the gig for two weeks and in 1969 he joined a band, Love Men Ltd., later known simply as L.T.D., in which he began as the drummer and later became the lead singer. The hits of L.T.D. included "Everytime I Turn Around (Back in Love Again)," "Love Ballad" and "(Holdin' On) When Love Is Gone."

In 1981, Osborne left the group to start his solo career. A year later, he released his self-titled debut album, which contained the hit singles "On the Wings of Love" and "I Really Don't Need No Light." A year later, his next album, Stay With Me Tonight, brought him two more hit singles: "Don't You Get So Mad" and the title cut.

He wrote the lyrics to "All at Once," a 1985 hit for Whitney Houston, and was part of that year's "We Are the World" fundraising single. His 1986 album, Emotional, contained his highest-charting pop hit, "You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song)," a No. 13 hit, although a 1987 duet with Dionne Warwick, "Love Power," reached No. 12.

Osborne has since released the singles "She's on the Left," "Only Human," "If My Brother's in Trouble" and "Yes, I'm Ready."

Earlier this year, Osborne sang the national anthem before the fourth game of the NBA finals.