SOUND CHECK : ROCK.

Smashing Pumpkins/``The Aeroplane Flies High''

A box set on the Smashing Pumpkins already? They sure don't waste any time over at Virgin.

``The Aeroplane Flies High'' collects the A and B sides from the five singles off the band's latest album, plus previously unreleased songs and cover tunes: in all, 33 songs on five EPs packed in a witty box that resembles a vintage carrying case for 45-rpm singles.

Aside from the five hits such as ``1979,'' ``Zero'' and ``Bullet With Butterfly Wings,'' which you can hear by dialing in any rock radio station and waiting five minutes, much of this stuff is incidental, fanatics-only material.

Typical is the 23-minute ``Pastichio Medley,'' an incoherent collage of experiments stitched together for some reason. ``The Boy'' and other numbers by second guitarist James Iha suggests he should remain well in the background and let head Pumpkin Billy Corgan worry about the songwriting. Two stars.

?13- Fred Shuster

blues

Johnny Yard Dog Jones/``Ain't Gonna Worry''

Contemporary blues doesn't get more convincing than singer-harpist Johnny Yard Dog Jones, a gospel guitarist before becoming a fixture on the Detroit blues scene.

Backed by a driving band, Jones sings with the kind of raw emotion that recalls O.V. Wright (on the r&b-drenched ``Anything but Without You'') and Stax-era Johnnie Taylor (``Your Used to Be'').

But the core of ``Ain't Gonna Worry'' (Earwig), Jones' fine debut, are tracks such as the simmering ``Clouds in My Heart'' and ``Tribute to Bill Doggett,'' an instrumental homage to the recently deceased r&b keyboardist. Three stars.

?13F.S.

Jazz

J.J. Johnson/``The Complete Columbia J.J. Johnson Small Group Sessions''

Trombonist J.J. Johnson took the bebop innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, applied them to his own relatively awkward instrument and is widely considered the finest jazz trombonist of all time as a result.

During a stint with Columbia in the late '50s, Johnson led a series of small units that included all-stars such as Elvin Jones, Cedar Walton, Max Roach, Paul Chambers, Tommy Flanagan and a youthful Freddie Hubbard.

As the often thrilling seven-CD box set, ``The Complete Columbia J.J. Johnson Small Group Sessions'' (Mosaic), illustrates, Johnson at this time downplayed his blazing technique for a more emotional, musical approach to ballads like ``Angel Eyes,'' ``Star Dust,'' ``God Bless the Child,'' ``Laura'' and ``Hello Young Lovers.''

But he especially burns on this collection's clear highlights, Johnson's own ``100 Proof,'' ``Tea Pot,'' ``Cube Steak,'' ``Sidewinder,'' ``Shutterbug'' and the 11-minute tour de force ``Fatback,'' which features the trombonist, Hubbard and the hard-driving saxophonist Clifford Jordan trading fours.

As usual with Mosaic boxes, which are available by mail-order only, the sound quality and presentation are excellent. For information call, [phone]. Four Stars.

?13- F.S.

reissue

John Lee Hooker/``Live at the Cafe au Go-Go (and Soledad Prison)''

``I'm bad like Jesse James,'' Delta blues great John Lee Hooker drawls in the opening moments of this brilliant and long out-of-print live album recorded some 30 years ago.

There's truth in advertising here - Hooker's never been badder than on ``Live at the Cafe au Go-Go (and Soledad Prison)'' (MCA), which boasts eight stirring tracks featuring the Muddy Waters Band with the marvelous Otis Spann on darkly menacing piano.

Hooker takes his time with each number, performing standouts like ``When My First Wife Left Me,'' ``Seven Days'' and ``I Don't Want No Trouble'' in his own inimitable grinding style.

The Hooker standard ``Serve Me Right to Suffer'' and four other numbers cut before a rowdy prison audience with a slightly less illustrious band are equally remarkable. Four stars.

?13- F.S.

Little Walter/``Confessin' the Blues''

Legendary blues harpist Little Walter Jacobs died senselessly in 1968 at age 37 after a bar fight - just as the blues-rock boom was beginning.

``Confessin' the Blues'' (MCA) rounds up 15 of Walter's singles from 1953-63 cut for the Checker label. It's a spotty affair, but gritty instrumentals such as ``Rocker'' and ``Lights Out'' show why Walter's reputation thrives.

In fact, the 10th annual Little Walter Tribute takes place Dec. 28 at the House of Blues.

If not everything here is a knockout, the backup band, featuring an all-star Chess/Checker cast that includes Jimmy Rogers, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and the always-great Fred Below on drums, is a good reason to investigate this collection. Three stars.

?13- F.S.

classical

Vanessa-Mae/``The Classical Album 1''

Teen-age violinist Vanessa-Mae is some kind of line-blurring prodigy. Last year, she released an album that mixed classical, jazz and pop, selling a few hundred thousand copies in the process.

On ``The Classical Album 1'' (EMI Classics), Vanessa-Mae returns to her roots with Brahms, Bach and Beethoven, plus 19th-century German composer Max Bruch, which provides the disc's most charming moments.

Clearly, the Singapore-born soloist is maturing as she becomes more musically diverse. And while her playing is always striking, those high notes can be a bit unsettling. Three stars.

?13- Elizabeth M. Cosin

CAPTION(S):

6 Photos

Photo: (1) The Smashing Pumpkins' ``The Aeroplane Flies High'' is a collection of flip sides and other previously unreleased material.

(2) no caption (Johnny Yard Dog Jones/``Ain't Gonna Worry'' cd cover)

(3) no caption (J.J. Johnson/``The Complete Columbia J.J. Johnson Small Group Sessions'' cd cover)

(4) no caption (John Lee Hooker/``Live at the Cafe au Go-Go (and Soledad Prison)'' cd cover)

(5) no caption (Little Walter/``Confessin' the Blues'' cd cover)

(6) no caption (Vanessa-Mae/``The Classical Album 1'' cd cover)