*** WYCLIFFE GORDON AND RON WESTRAY, “Bone Structure,” Atlantic; ** 1/2 MARCUS PRINTUP,”Marcus Printup, Unveiled,” Blue Note; *** ERIC REED, “Musicale,” Impulse

The influence of Wynton Marsalis--and less apparent but no less significant influence of his father, pianist Ellis Marsalis, the patriarch of the New Orleans jazz family--continues to spread throughout the younger generation of jazz players.

That influence traces to Wynton Marsalis’ often-expressed definition of jazz: “Jazz is musical interplay on blues-based melodies, harmonies, rhythms and textures in the motion of an improvised groove.” And it is manifest, in a variety of promising ways, in these recordings from players who have come under the Marsalis spell.

Trombonists Gordon and Westray perform in Marsalis’ Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Teaming them with a rhythm section would seem to have obvious resonances with the popular J.J. Johnson-Kai Winding trombone bands of the ‘50s. And there are moments when the two-trombone timbres and solid, rhythmic drive of “Bone Structure” recall the happy jazz of Johnson and Winding.

More often, however, it is the Marsalis family emphasis upon tradition that influences the music: the almost vocally expressive sounds reminiscent of Duke Ellington trombonist Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton; the exuberant, no-holds-barred, tail-gate qualities of some of the solos; the constant presence of blues-tinged melodies; and the stirring, collective interaction--perhaps best depicted in the duo opening of “Rhythm Cone.”

Gordon is on target when he notes that he and Westray didn’t want to “sound like Jay and Kai but like ‘Cone’ [his own nickname] and ‘Tray.’ ”

*

Printup, also a veteran of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and now a regular with the touring Gershwin program of pianist Marcus Roberts (another Marsalis associate, who performs in the rhythm section here as well), is a young player still somewhat in search of his own voice.

The Armstrong-through-Marsalis qualities are strong in much of his soloing (noticeably on “Leave Your Name and Number”), and there are traces of the flowing, articulate Miles Davis of the ‘50s and early ‘60s, especially in Printup’s version of Davis’ “Dig.” His strongest forte, at the moment, is an ability to generate attractive, spontaneous melodies in a style that holds considerably more promise than the far more common improvisational tendency to build solos out of assembled bits and pieces of riffs and rhythmic grooves.

*

Pianist Eric Reed became a regular with Marsalis in the early ‘90s, replacing Roberts, and quickly blossomed into a powerful, independent jazz voice. Reed’s youthful capacity to hook into the jazz tradition--surely inspired by Marsalis--is one of his most engaging qualities. His tribute to the late New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair in “Longhair’s Rumba,” for example, is an appropriately whimsical blending of styles that he manages to stamp with his own imaginative ideas.

Other touches reveal a growing musical curiosity. A tune called “Scandal” emerges in three separate segments, depicting, Reed says, “the feeling of the effect that scandals have on life.” “Upper West Side” has a lyrical, Ellington-esque quality, and “Pete and Repeat” positions trumpeter Nicholas Payton and alto saxophonist Wessell Anderson in a kind of nonstop duo improvisation intended to recall Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman. And Reed’s gospel roots flower openly in the hymn-like “A Love Divine” and the romping rhythms of “Baby Sis.”

Fascinating stuff, all of it, clear evidence of a talented and rapidly expanding imagination at work--and a confirmation that Reed is emerging as a mature and gifted jazz artist.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).