Beyond doubt, the compact disc is the...

Beyond doubt, the compact disc is the groove of the future. (Yes, yes, I know it has no grooves.) It will duly become to the LP what LPs were to 78s. Because of digital mastering (and in some cases digital recordings and mixing), the sound, read by a laser beam through the plastic surface of the 4 1/2-inch, 1-millimeter-thick disc, is just about as perfect as perfect will ever get.

Though this small, silver surface can accommodate up to 70 minutes of music on a single side, certain inconsistencies have to be resolved. A CD offering only 32 minutes looks exactly like one that may carry twice as much; moreover, the store may overcharge you for the former, as there are no firm price regulations. Even if not used to maximum capacity, of course, the discs are great space savers.

What follows is a sampling of the best I have heard, representing jazz in various styles and stages:

“SPORTIN’ LIFE.” Weather Report. Columbia CD 39908. “SONG FOR JANET LEE.” Bob Magnusson Quintet. Discovery DSCD-912. “THE SECOND SET.” Scott Hamilton Quintet. Concord CCD-4254. “INTERPRETATIONS OF BACH AND MOZART.” Shelly Manne Jazz Quartet. Trend TRCD-525. “SIDE BY SIDE.” Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges. Verve 821-578-2. “STUDY IN BROWN.” Clifford Brown/Max Roach. EmArcy 814-646-2. These six CDs are played by small groups; this aside, they have nothing in common. Listed in reverse chronological order, dating respectively from 1985, 1984, 1983, 1980, 1959 and 1955, they illustrate the limitless diversity of idioms that can be lumped together loosely under the “small-group jazz” rubric.

“Sportin’ Life” is the most recent and in some respects the most provocative set by the best of all the fusion bands. Magnusson, the lithe bassist who shared with guitarist Peter Sprague most of the writing responsibilities in “Song for Janet Lee,” depends on melodic invention and the added strengths of Bobby Shew’s fluegelhorn and Hubert Laws’ flute.

Scott Hamilton, 31, has become the symbol of the young thinking old, his low-flame tenor ignited by a cooking rhythm team in a program of blues, bossa nova, pop and jazz standards. The Shelly Manne classical-jazz fusion, with liner notes by Henri Temianka, is among the most successful such experiments.

Two potent sets of sidemen participate in the Ellington-Hodges set: Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Billy Strayhorn, Lawrence Brown, and the Duke himself on most cuts, playing almost 46 minutes of pure small-band classic jazz. The Clifford Brown-Max Roach set, though older, represents a much later form, post-bop, fortified by the hard-driving tenor sax of Harold Land, whose tune “Land’s End” is included along with four originals by Brown and a devastating treatment of “Cherokee.” All these CDs are of 4- to 5-star caliber.

The potential buyer of a CD machine should bear in mind that jazz CD releases already number in the hundreds, and that along with the newer items, more and more historically vital works will be transferred from LPs. In all probability, too, some CDs will include additional tracks that were excluded, due to pressure on space, from the equivalent LP product. This will be done to stimulate the purchase of players, though it seems that very soon such encouragement will not even be necessary.