Jeff McCord on the month’s new releases

Roy Hargrove

Roy Hargrove presents the RH Factor

Verve

Jazz trumpeter ROY HARGROVE has loosened his belt and recorded some of the sweltering funk-R&B featured in recent live shows. Roy Hargrove presents the RH Factor (Verve) is star-packed; pals such as rapper Common, R&B crooner D'Angelo, and fellow Dallasite Erykah Badu take compelling vocal turns. New jazz, hip-hop, soul—it's hard to say what you've got here, other than further proof that jazz plays well with the other children.

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Growl

Rounder

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD ups the volume on Growl (Rounder), and the offhand, edgy blues boots the material into high gear. The country outlaw never met an idea he didn't like (there are a couple of throwaways here), but Growl maintains an affable charm that's impossible to deny. Best of all, thirty years on, he just might have found a sequel to his classic "Redneck Mother": an ambiguous smirk called "Screw You, We're From Texas."

George Jones

The Gospel Collection

Bandit

GEORGE JONES, a Saratoga native, once owned the Nashville scene, but the new generation of hat acts has passed him in the fast lane. Last album's embarrassing "Beer Run" duet with Garth Brooks didn't boost his sales, but it was apparently enough to turn him to the Lord. Good move. The Gospel Collection (Bandit) is two CDs of Billy Sherill-produced old-time religion, rousing and slick as corn liquor.

Jack Teagarden

The Complete Roulette Jack Teagarden Sessions

Mosaic

Like his swing-era contemporary Louis Armstrong, Vernon's JACK TEAGARDEN was both a phenomenal jazz player and singer. He kept his trombone work loose and simple, favoring the upper register, where his glass-smooth liquid notes sliced through cleanly. His voice had a more smoky hue, loaded with a relaxed blues intonation. He also had something Armstrong didn't—bad luck. A contractual mistake kept him relegated to sideman status for much of his career, and in 1964 a heart attack closed his curtain early at age 58. If you've never heard Teagarden, The Complete Roulette Jack Teagarden Sessions (Mosaic) is a fine introduction, culled from a significant period (1959-1961) in the original Mr. T's career. And even if you already own the collection's five out-of-print LPs, more than two hours of this four-CD set has never seen release. Half live, half studio, this rollicking and seemingly effortless swing embellishes an already stellar, if sadly unsung, reputation.