ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

JAZZ

Marsalis Filling Void With New Record Label

Branford Marsalis, the Grammy-winning saxophonist and bandleader, is forming a new Boston-based record company, the Boston Globe reports.

According to the musician, Marsalis Music is a response to the bottom-line pressures that have forced major labels to reduce or even eliminate their jazz rosters. Last summer, he negotiated out of his longtime contract with Columbia Records.

“The consolidation of the record industry into major conglomerates has turned the business into a mega-hit pop music machine with a very short-term focus,” he said. “Artists who want to be musicians, not marketing creations, have very few places to record anymore.”

Marsalis himself has signed on to the label, which will be marketed and distributed by Boston’s Rounder Records. His next album, “Footsteps of Our Fathers”--a tribute to John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins and the Modern Jazz Quartet--is expected in late summer or early fall. No other artists have been signed yet.

POP/ROCK

Dylan Tops Survey of Year’s Best Albums

Bob Dylan’s “Love and Theft,” a wry, humorous collection of songs informed by the heritage of country and blues music, was named the best album of 2001 in the Village Voice’s annual survey of the nation’s pop music critics (numbering 621 this year).

“Love and Theft” was a runaway winner with 3,005 points in the poll’s voting system, easily distancing it from the 1,613 points garnered by the second-place disc, “Is This It” by the Strokes, the New York neo-punk band.

The remaining top 10 vote-getters were “Vespertine” by Bjork, “White Blood Cells” by the White Stripes, “Amnesiac” by Radiohead, “Gold” by Ryan Adams, “The Blueprint” by Jay-Z, “Party Music” by the Coup, “Essence” by Lucinda Williams and “Poses” by Rufus Wainwright.

MOVIES

Wisconsin Politico Says No Quid Pro Quo

Wisconsin Atty. Gen. James Doyle, who is running for governor of the state, denies that he issued a grant in the name of Hollywood film producer Jerry Zucker in exchange for a $10,000 donation.

The grant went to the University of Wisconsin’s stem cell research program three weeks before Doyle received the money from Zucker, a graduate of the school who produced “The Naked Gun” series and directed “Airplane!”

Zucker, whose 13-year-old daughter Katie suffers from diabetes, is known to be a supporter of such research as a means of combating the disease.

“When the only contribution he makes comes within a couple of weeks of a major grant being made in his name, it raises your eyebrows,” said Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democratic Campaign.

Zucker maintains that he would have contributed to Doyle’s campaign--grant or no grant. “I didn’t care whether it was in my name or not,” he said. “It was a sweet gesture. I didn’t benefit personally.”

QUICK TAKES

The face of Cary Grant, who died in 1986, will appear on a first-class stamp coming out later this year. ... According to USA Today, E! Entertainment has made a deal to air “Last Call With Carson Daly” at 6 p.m. on the same day the late-night talk show runs on NBC, starting March 4....MTV’s “Real World” will tape its 12th season in Las Vegas.

Elaine Dutka