NEW RELEASES / In Brief

** Diane Schuur, “In Tribute,” GRP. Schuur’s lavishly produced tribute to “the great legendary jazz vocalists” provides an interesting--if unplanned--definition of her skills. She deserves plenty of credit for risking comparison with Billie Holiday on “Them There Eyes” and “God Bless the Child” and Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan on “How High the Moon” and “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry.” But she is clearly more comfortable with material associated with Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee and Libby Holman, all of whom are more accurate models for Schuur’s pop-jazz style.

New albums are rated on a scale of one asterisk (poor) to four (excellent). A rating of five asterisks is reserved for classic reissues or retrospectives.