WHAT’S COOKING IN NEW LP’s

“LEGRAND JAZZ.” Michel Legrand. Philips 830-074-2 (compact disc).

Long unavailable, this is not only the most welcome reissue of the year just ended, but unquestionably one of the most successful orchestral jazz albums of all time.

Each of the 11 tunes is a standard by a famous jazzman; each was arranged by Legrand in a fashion that retained the essence of the composition while lending his own unique imprimatur.

Legrand assembled three groups with different personnel. In retrospect, the collective lineup is astonishing. On “Wild Man Blues,” the soloists are John Coltrane and Miles Davis. On “Jitterbug Waltz,” they are Davis, Bill Evans, Phil Woods and Herbie Mann; on “Blue and Sentimental” and “Nuages,” Ben Webster. Four trumpeters--Art Farmer, Ernie Royal, Joe Wilder and Donald Byrd--share the credits on “Night in Tunisia.” Trombonists Eddie Berg, Billy Byers, Jimmy Cleveland and Frank Rehak, along with pianist Hank Jones, dominate “Rosetta.”

The digitally remastered 1958 sound is fine, adding yet another element to a set that is beyond cavil from every standpoint: material, arrangements, solos, interpretation. Five stars seems like a miserly rating, but it’s the best we can offer.

“STANDARDS VOL. 1.” Stanley Jordan. Blue Note BT 85130. Jordan here applies his technique to 10 songs: “Sunny,” “Moon River,” “Because,” “Georgia” and the like. His overwhelming tapping-the-strings concept being far less astonishing now, he has to rely on creative performances. His first album, with occasional other instruments added for variety, enjoyed tremendous and well-deserved success. Here the results, though uneven, will please much of the same audience, though the conversion of “Silent Night” into a gospel blues waltz is not the most soulful of ideas. By no means does this represent an advance on his debut set. 3 1/2 stars.

“THINK AGAIN.” Wishful Thinking. Pausa 7205. Tim Weston, who functions as guitarist, leader, producer, and shares composer credits with synthesist Chris Boardman, insists this is not a fusion group. Given the drum machine and sequencer programming, the prefabricated rhythm patterns and the shortage of improvisation, what else would you call it? As an example of the genre, it’s above average, with some skillful writing (Boardman’s slow, stately “Clown’s Disguise”) and an able vibraphonist, Dave Shank. It’s still a dead-end idiom without a spark of spontaneity. 2 1/2 stars.

“NEW MOOD INDIGO.” Duke Ellington. Doctor Jazz FW 40359. The well of unissued Ellingtonia seems to be bottomless. Here are seven big-band sides from the 1960s. The title song benefits from a doubled-rhythm treatment. Ellington’s “West Indian Pancake” waltz and his trombone feature for Lawrence Brown, “Veldt Amour,” capture the full flavor of this incomparable ensemble. No less interesting are four cuts by a small group under Mercer Ellington’s direction, with a very young Chick Corea at the piano. Corea’s waltz “Ugh” and Mercer Ellington’s poignant tribute to Billy Strayhorn, “Portrait for Pea,” stand out in this novel and intriguing session. 4 stars.

“THE OTHER SIDE OF ROUND MIDNIGHT.” Dexter Gordon. Blue Note BT 85135. In the sound-track album, which differs considerably from these Paris studio recordings despite an almost identical personnel, Dexter Gordon did not get to play on the title cut. Here he does, and ironically he is outflanked by his sidemen. The four tracks on which he is heard find him in sub-par form, but there are compensations: “Society Red,” a Blakey-like blues with great work by Freddie Hubbard and Cedar Walton, and “Tivoli,” an oddity in that it was actually used on the sound track because the on-screen version didn’t come off.

It’s a pleasant change to hear Bobby McFerrin relaxing and singing words, as he does on “What Is This Thing Called Love.” Herbie Hancock has some inspired moments, modalizing “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (with Bobby Hutcherson on vibes) and ruminating at length on “Round Midnight,” two versions of which open and close the album. (But the best “Round Midnight” is on the above-mentioned Michel Legrand album featuring Miles Davis.) Unexplained crowd noises and applause are heard on a couple of numbers. 3 1/2 stars.

“THE COMPLETE BUNNY BERIGAN, VOL. 2.” Bluebird 5657-1 RB. Berigan was a powerful, lyrical trumpeter and a helpless alcoholic who died at 33. He had neither the stamina nor the desire to be a bandleader; to make matters worse, RCA dealt him pop songs from the bottom of the deck. As is made clear in the eloquent, informative and honest notes by trumpeter-historian Richard Sudhalter, these tunes are “frightful,” “dreadful,” “appalling” or of “stunning mediocrity.” Moreover, of the 28 pieces on these four sides, 21 have dull vocals. Only die-hard Berigan fanatics will want to wade through this garbage to find the occasional moments of bliss when he takes over. 2 stars.

“MOONRAY.” Adam Makowicz. Novus 3003-1-N. RCA’s new jazz label is off to a promising start with the first major-label LP in seven years by the innovative Polish pianist. Though mainly backed by bass and drums, he also gains subliminal support from vibraphone and harp (both of whom emerge to solo on “Suddenly It’s Spring”). An unorthodox swinger, Makowicz plows new paths on “All of Me,” “Django” and Horace Silver’s charming waltz, “Summer in Central Park.” Particularly delightful is “Indiana,” its venerable notes cut in half so that it becomes a slow 16-bar chorus. 4 stars.

“AVANT POP.” Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy. ECM 1326. Bowie has become one of the first jazz composers to record an original work with an unprintable title (bowdlerized, it would be “No Excrement”). Mainly a parody of 1920s jazz, this is one of several tongue-in-cheek cuts: “Oh What a Night” and “Blueberry Hill” use 1950s triplets, Bowie plays comic bent tones on his trumpet, and the whole thing is not much more than a lark. With such interesting instrumentation (four trumpets, two trombones, French horn, tuba, drums), he could have used the occasion for something valuable. 2 stars.

“ANY OLD TIME.” Carmen McRae. Denon 33 CY 1216 (compact disc). This 60-minute, newly recorded set offers a dozen songs from McRae’s early years (many of which she heard sung by Billie Holiday), as well as Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender.” Her own intimacy and confidence and some unexpected treatments (“Have You Met Miss Jones?” very slow, the seldom-heard verse on “I’m Glad There Is You”), along with flawless support and solos by the compatible John Collins on guitar, Clifford Jordan on tenor sax and Eric Gunnison on piano, remind us that after 40 years as a recording artist McRae remains in total command both of her facilities and her listeners’ emotions. 5 stars.