JAZZ/POP/ROCK

Maxine Sullivan 1944-1948. (Tono Records TJ-6001); Mildred Bailey: ``The Paul Whiteman Years.'' (TJ-6002); Anita O'Day 1949-1950. (TJ-6003) -- Record producer Takashi Ono specializes in high-quality reissues of hard-to-find jazz vocal albums. These three have been carefully remixed to obtain the best possible sound, and are packaged with detailed liner notes. The Maxine Sullivan recordings are available here on LP for the first time, featuring Miss Sullivan backed by the Ellis Larkins trio and a string orc hestra arranged by Sylvan Shulman. She sings beautifully and elegantly. Songs include some of the unusual material for which she is famous (``Loch Lomond,'' ``Cry, Buttercup, Cry,'' ``If I Had a Ribbon Bow''), as well as some great old standards. Like the Maxine Sullivan album, the Mildred Bailey/Paul Whiteman recordings are available for the first time on an American LP. These cuts, made in 1931 and '32, are of pop tunes of the day. Only a few, such as ``All of Me,'' ``I'll Never Be the Same,'' and ``We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye,'' have become standards, but they all project the particular charm that belongs to that era. Bailey is a delight to listen to.

Aficionados of Anita O'Day's style of jazz singing will find this album interesting and a little amusing. Unlike her later recordings, there isn't much jazz here -- mostly pop and novelty songs. Despite the fact that a couple of the tunes are pretty awful, this is a rare collection, a first on LP, and a must for O'Day collectors. For a list of rare and out-of-print albums, or to order records, write: Tono Records Inc., PO Box 419A, Planetarium Station, New York, N.Y. 10024. -- Amy Duncan David Van Tieghem: ``These Things Happen.'' (Warner Bros. Records 1-25105) -- This music was composed for Twyla Tharp's dance ``Fait Accompli,'' and like that work, it's kind of daunting. There's not much of the appealing whimsy that marks my favorite Van Tieghem piece, ``Message Received . . . Proceed Accordingly,'' which must be seen live if its humorous use of ``found percussion'' and light effects are to be appreciated. Still, this is an imposing record. The composer goes for walloping rhyth ms and powerhouse effects, meshing them into an art-rock fabric that's seamless to a fault. His use of voices, singing and speaking alike, is especially deft. It's not an easygoing disc, but it serves up Van Tieghem at his most aggressively outgoing. -- David Sterritt