SOUND CHECK.

Various/``The Sound of Jazz'' (Columbia/Legacy)

One of the highlights of Ken Burns' ``Jazz'' series was watching Billie Holiday, in her last great performance, singing ``Fine and Mellow'' backed by three of the greatest tenor sax players who ever lived - Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Ben Webster - taken from CBS' classic 1957 one-shot TV special ``The Sound of Jazz,'' now finally issued on CD.

The album, recorded in studio a few days before the all-star event, features some of the best players of the swing era thunderously jamming on Dixieland and Kansas City tunes. Among the talent: Count Basie, Henry ``Red'' Allen, Harry Carney, Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham, Jimmy Rushing and Vic Dickenson, along with a nod toward cool jazz with the ridiculously underrated Jimmy Giuffre Trio and guitarist Jim Hall.

Buy it for Lady Day's last hurrah and stay for the brilliant jams. Three and one half stars

- Glenn Whipp

Scrimshanders/``Longneck'' (Scrimshanders)

Another self-made find available from the excellent Miles of Music mail-order company (www.milesofmusic.com), this band likes its heartbreak straight up, with plaintive pedal steel poured over roaring guitar.

Boston's 'shanders take romance hard - before, during and especially after the glass is drained - and if they weren't so jaggedly poetic, they'd sound like stalkers.

The sound is strictly country and Midwestern: John Magee's growling, discouraged voice is that of a small-town loser who spends his days making boilers and downs boilermakers all night.

Get these industrial-strength roots rockers a label deal, pronto! Four stars

- Bob Strauss

Dusty Springfield/``Love Songs'' (Rhino)

Fans of Springfield who assume this to be a rote compilation album take note: ``Love Songs'' features three previously unreleased songs from the singer's 1970 ``A Brand New Me'' Philly soul sessions, a never-heard cover of the Five Stairsteps' ``Ooh Child'' along with 11 tracks that have never seen the light of day in the States. The result is a compilation geared more toward longtime fans than newcomers, although Springfield's biggest hits - ``Son of a Preacher Man'' and ``The Look of Love'' - are included. Throughout, Springfield's stylish sensuality carries the day, making this a gem of a gift for the pop fan in your life. Three stars

- G.W.

Astro Chicken/``Almost Anywhere'' (Meaningful)

A smart band with a deceptively dumb name, Astro Chicken is the brainchild of two moonlighting New York video editors, songwriter/vocalist Barney Miller and lead guitarist John Laprade.

Their clever wordplay and catchy pop hooks provide a kind of camouflage, too, for the bitingly bitter content of Miller's lyrics, which makes for jangly sonic packets of resigned emotional poison you can cheerfully bop to.

The Chicken comes on like a '60s British Invasion act that intends to take no prisoners, with spacey Pink Floyd and U2 interludes to soften you up for the next electric barrage. Three and one half stars

- B.S.

Rick Shea/``Sawbones'' (Wagon Wheel)

Don't let the guitar god posturings on opening cut ``Black Eyed Girl'' alarm you; instrumental whiz Shea is as rootsy as they come.

This marvelous collection of mostly self-penned tunes by the San Bernardino-bred, Dave Alvin sideman covers the gamut of folk, gospel, blues, country and even some Mexican idioms, yet each song is crafted with distinctive freshness and originality. To top it off, Shea's caramel baritone is as beautiful and resonant as his multistring virtuosity is awe-inspiring.

And that ``Black Eyed Girl'' tune? It rocks. Four stars

- B.S.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (Billy Holiday)

(2 -- 5) no caption (CD covers)