ALBUM REVIEW : ***** MARIAN McPARTLAND “Plays the Benny Carter Songbook” <i> Concord Jazz</i> :<i> Albums are rated from five stars (a classic) to one star (poor).</i>

Everything is in place for this incomparable match of talents: McPartland’s piano artistry, Carter’s melodic gift (his own alto sax illuminates six of the 11 cuts) and the ideal back-up of John Clayton’s bass and Harold Jones’s drums. Too bad Carter’s horn isn’t heard on “Lonely Woman,” a gorgeous melody (much earlier and more valuable than the better-known Ornette Coleman tune of the same name). Still, it will be hard to fault any album that includes such Carter standards as “Key Largo,” “When Lights Are Low” and “A Kiss From You.” This is a CD to remember at Grammy time.