TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : ****Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“The Jazz Life: Art Blakey.” Sony. $29.95. This edition of Blakey’s Jazz Messengers shows that 1981 was a vintage year. Wynton Marsalis, then 19, was his musical director, boldly assertive on the original tunes (no titles or composers are named), warmly affecting on “My Ship.” Branford Marsalis, then playing alto sax, and Charles Pierce on tenor rounded out the front line in this intensely engaging 60-minute session, climaxed by the indomitable leader in a solo explosion. Admirable sound and inventive camera work, all live at Seventh Avenue South in New York. Information: (212) 757-4990. ****