Larry Kart

Cookin` at the Plugged Nickel (Miles Davis, Columbia). A case can be made that Miles Davis` greatest band was the mid-1960s quintet that included tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie...

Take one part Ella Fitzgerald and one part Carmen McRae, add some gospel- blues flavoring and a pinch or two of Ethel Merman-Sophie Tucker old-fashioned show business pizazz and you...

Ebony (Richard Stoltzman and Woody Herman`s Thundering Herd; RCA, 50:53) One of the world`s most celebrated classical clarinetists, Richard Stoltzman is ill-cast as a jazz musician-not only because his sense...

One More Rose (Jackie Cain and Roy Kral; Audiophile). This tribute to the lyrics of the late Alan Jay Lerner may well be Jackie and Roy`s finest album, which is...

Colors in Thirty-Third (Muhal Richard Abrams; Black Saint). The godfather of Chicago`s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, composer-pianist Muhal Richard Abrams never ceases to grow-as this unusually varied...

Central City Sketches (Benny Carter and the American Jazz Orchestra; Musicmasters, 71:45). A year ago the New York-based American Jazz Orchestra (a so-called ''repertory ensemble'' put together by John Lewis...

The Flow of Things (Roscoe Mitchell; Black Saint). Backed by pianist Jodie Christian, bassist Malachai Favors and drummer Steve McCall, saxophonist-composer Roscoe Mitchell presents a relatively abstract, pointillistic work titled...

Keeper of the Drums (Marvin Smith; Concord Jazz). Marvin (Smitty) Smith`s first album as a leader, ''Keeper of the Drums'' suggests that, like many of today`s young jazz musicians, Smith...

Penguin Shuffle (Damon Short; Blue Room). A fascinating debut, ''Penguin Shuffle'' features the music of drummer-composer Damon Short. A native of Rock Island, Ill., Short migrated to New Orleans after...

''Sweet Lorraine'' (Maureen Stapleton, Lee Richardson, Trini Alvarado; Steve Gomer, dir. Paramount, 1987, Technicolor. Running time: 91 minutes. $?) A lukewarm cinematic blintz, ''Sweet Lorraine'' tells the tale of the...