In Brief

* * * Keith Washington, “You Make it Easy,” Qwest/Warner Bros. Washington is one of R&B;’s most promising new heartthrobs. On his sophomore album, his easy-going demeanor sometimes makes him seem like just another Armani-wearing wanna-be. But he does deliver the goods on such material as “What It Takes,” an attention-grabbing torch song. In the Teddy Pendergrass tradition, Washington is a real love-man for the ‘90s.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).