Impulse Records hopes listeners will think a good Reed sparks Pure Imagination.

Translation: jazz pianist Eric Reed's latest album is titled "Pure Imagination," and Reed is backing up its release with various concert gigs, including July 10 in Central Park and dates the following week in Japan. Why is this of interest to theatre folks? Because "Pure Imagination" devotes itself solely to Broadway showtunes, from "Send In The Clowns" (A Little Night Music) to "Hello, Young Lovers" (The King And I) to "My Man's Gone Now" (Porgy and Bess), "Maria" (West Side Story), "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Carousel), and more. The CD, produced by Tommy LiPuma even begins with an Overture.

A member of Wynton Marsalis' septet, Philadelphia-born Reed, 28, told the Philadelphia Inquirer (July 3) he decided to make his fifth album all Broadway because "I was trying to reach a different demographic than the typical jazz audience... Sometimes when these songs are performed a lot, it does not seem that all of the nuances and elements...are really tapped into. But if a person...takes [his] time and tries to dissect them, they would find some great things in there."

For information on "Pure Imagination" call Impulse Records at (212) 424 1000.

-- By David Lefkowitz