One of Ray Charles’ biggest hit albums...

One of Ray Charles’ biggest hit albums was the 1962 “Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music” and Garth Brooks is the modern sound in country music. So Quincy Jones thought it would be a great idea to get the two together for Charles’ next album on Jones’ Qwest Records label. Brooks, Jones says, was thrilled with the idea of collaborating with Charles, and the album is now scheduled for late February release. . . .

Having apparently settled his differences with Epic Records, Luther Vandross is finishing an album that is also due in February. In recent interviews, Vandross had said that he blamed the label for his inability to cross over from the R&B; market and have hit singles in the pop world. . . .

Word is that George Michael has finished his next album and that it’s tentatively due out in February. But that depends on what happens in his attempt to leave Columbia Records. Sources say that the singer is in hushed negotiations with another company. . . . The news for Huey Lewis fans is no News. The Bay Area popster has signed a deal with Elektra, which plans to release his first album without his longtime band, the News, in spring. . . .

Guitarist C. C. DeVille has begun production of his first album since leaving Poison last summer. Joining him on the project is singer Kelly Hansen, formerly of the band Hurricane. . . .

Aerosmith’s next album has been pushed back to April from a planned February release. No reason for the delay has been given. . . .

In what is sure to be an example of refined and tasteful rock ‘n’ roll, the band Enuf’s Enuf is recording a new song, “Silent but Deadly,” for Howard Stern’s “Fartman” movie. . . .

Rapper Big Daddy Kane, whose last album was a flop, is looking to rekindle his career with an album coming in March. We’ll also see Kane the actor next year: He’s in director Robert Townsend’s “Meteor Man” and--playing a cowboy--in director Mario Van Peebles’ “Posse”. . . . Jeff Beck’s next album, “Crazy Legs,” is a tribute to ‘50s rocker Gene Vincent. It’s due in April. Beck also collaborated with Jed Leiber, son of famed songwriter Jerry Leiber (of Leiber & Stoller) on the soundtrack for the movie “Frankie’s House,” which will be aired on A&E; in February. . . .

Attention Smiths collectors and new Morrissey fans: The Smiths’ 1984 “Hatful of Hollow,” a collection of singles and live radio performances originally released only in Great Britain, is finally coming out in the United States in March. . . . “Star Trek” fans might ask Santa to hold off until January. That’s when GNP/Crescendo Records will issue two three-CD boxed sets, one of music from the original TV series and the second from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”