The Boston-based Hungarian pianist Laszlo Gardony accomplishes the rare feat of making accessible music that doesn't patronize his listeners. His roots are all over the place here: "Seven Against Four" recalls Vince Guaraldi's music for "Peanuts" cartoons while obviously nodding to Dave Brubeck and Gardony's prog-rock influences. The funky "Forty Eight Days" swings incessantly; "Just Do It" boasts a New Orleans party rhythm with gospel overtones; "Mockingbird" adheres to a Latin beat but stretches out melodically. The arrangements feature piano, bass, guitar and two percussionists, and the players are all in synch with Gardony's lighthearted yet muscular approach.

GETAWAY CRUISER

Getaway Cruiser (550 Music)

Formed at the University of Michigan, this clever pop-rock band grafts insinuating melodies atop a combination of guitar-based rock and drum-fueled hip-hop and electro-rhythms. The result is an intriguing fusion of middle-American rock and urban grit - samples include Afrika Bambaataa and Kool and the Gang. Dina Harrison's clear, piercing vocals cut through the mix with girl-group dynamism by way of the B-52s - her voice bears more than a slight resemblance to Kate Pierson's. Ultimately, however, you don't get the strong feeling the group has figured out how to fit all this together in some coherent musical statement.[ 8/30/98]

VANCE GILBERT

The two covers out of the baker's dozen tunes here are telling one a traditional folk ballad, one a Smokey Robinson tune. Gilbert boasts that sort of range, which also includes jazz and pop, tied together by his silky-smooth, soulful tenor and his infectious melodicism. He also has a gift for portraying the desperation of everyday life, when epiphany is just a simple bank robbery away. The pop-folk arrangements are peppered with cello, sax, dobro, accordion, guitar and electric sitar.

GLAZE

Frontman Steve Ferguson could well be Albany's answer to Lou Reed, with his poetic portraits and put- downs of characters he has loved and loathed (including himself). Like Reed, he builds his songs around a guitar-bass-drums trio, but he is no mere mimic. He enjoys himself more (``I feel so alive, I can't believe I'm not dead'') and he works from a wider musical palette that also recalls David Byrne and Jonathan Richman, albeit both Reed-influenced in their own way.

GREEN DAY

On its fifth full-length album, the Berkeley-based Green Day adds Beatles-like melody, state-of-the-art ska-pop, string-laden acoustic folk and instrumental surf-lounge music to its typical array of adolescent- minded pop-punk. As lead singer-songwriter Billie Joe explains, "We really wanted to ... stretch as much as possible this time." In Green Day's case, the stretch takes them about as far as being the '90s answer to Cheap Trick.[ 11/23/97 ]

GREG GREENWAY

Think Shawn Colvin and Patty Larkin's rhythmic folk- pop crossed with Bruce Cockburn's mix of the personal and the political on this indie-label debut by the Boston-based singer-songwriter. Greenway boasts a commanding, powerful voice with a yearning tone that he puts to good use on tunes inflected with gospel and world-beat textures. He's no minimalist, but he is an economical lyricist who has figured out how to get a lot across with just a few choice images.