New Releases : In Brief

* * Dave Brubeck, “Once When I Was Very Young,” Musicmasters. Brubeck is the Bob Newhart of jazz--an amiable, buttoned-down performer who always manages to enlighten without offending. On this outing, his current quartet (with clarinetist Bill Smith, bassist Jack Six and drummer Randy Jones) works its way through an easygoing collection of chestnuts ranging from “Among My Souvenirs” to “Gone With the Wind.” But the most interesting tracks are contrasted instrumental and choral readings of the title song--a characteristically lovely new melody by Brubeck.