Warner Jams

January 4 - 11, 1 9 9 6

*** Various Artists

WARNER JAMS

(Warner Bros.)

This is a fundamentally listenable and occasionally delightful assortment of tributes to jazz masters by the generation of jazz stars under 35. Those of us over that age might grumble about the hubris of Kenny Garrett and Joshua Redman in tackling Charlie Parker's "Ornithology" and John Coltrane's "Impressions." But if you can drop memories of the original recordings, you have to admit that Garrett and Redman, as well as trumpeter Wallace Roney and pianist Larry Goldings, bring a lot of boyish energy to these and 10 other jazz classics.

You can find this album in record stores, but you can get it cheap through the US Postal Service when you purchase the "Jazz Stamp Folio," a set of first-class stamps with likenesses of Parker, Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, and more. Call 1-800-STAMP-24 for information.

-- Norman Weinstein