Yanni

Orange County public television station KOCE-TV Channel 50 completed its most successful membership drive ever on Sunday, raising $295,431 according to a preliminary estimate, station spokeswoman Judith Schaefer said Monday. The response to the 18-day campaign was attributed to special programming that included a taped concert by New-Age singer Yanni, as well as to a one-day extension of the spring drive, Schaefer said.

There was a time when the fusion of two musical fields was a bold adventure. In the 1950s, Gunther Schuller did it with jazz and atonal music; the '60s gave us Miles Davis and jazz-rock; Philip Glass did it in the '70s with rock and Minimalism. Today, the fusion of musical styles is no longer bold or even adventuresome. In fact, new-age musicians are routinely crossbreeding music to the extent that today's purists might be accused of living in the past.

For week ending Jan. 28 Rank Last Week Weeks on Chart 1 "The Client" 1 4 2 "Blown Away" 3 4 3 "Maverick" 2 7 4 "Speed" 4 10 5 "True Lies" ... 1 6 "When a Man Loves a Woman" 5 9 7 "Renaissance Man" 7 4 8 "I Love Trouble" 6 4 9 "Guarding Tess" 8 12 10 "North" 21 2 National Video Sales Rank Last Week Weeks on Chart 1 "Speed" 1 10 2 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" 3 13 3 "The Land Before Time II" 2 4 4 "Jurassic Park" 4 16 5 "Nirvana:Live ..."

A.J. Croce, son of the late singer Jim Croce and local jazz club owner Ingrid Croce, has signed a recording contract with Private Music, the Los Angeles-based company that represents Ringo Starr, Yanni and Taj Mahal, among others. The 20-year-old San Diego-based pianist, who has been gaining critical praise on recent tours, will go into the studio by the end of the year, according to Karen Johnson, a vice president at Private Music.

Without hesitation, I excitedly snatched up "The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1949-1959." And then I read that bizarre review by Feather of the undisputed genius of jazz who altered the entire concept of singing at age 18 and miraculously sang even better as the years went on. Once Lady Day sang a song, it was hers and hers alone. I've seen a myriad of books containing endless sketches and doodles by Picasso that the world finds merit in, and I'm still in awe of a deteriorating Parthenon and a less-than-perfect Sphinx.

Ten years ago, Linda Evans was miserable, filled with self-doubt and dependent on men. Today, she has a new life and a new man. Evans, best known as Krystle on "Dynasty," will appear next week in the ABC movie "I'll Take Romance," her first project since leaving "Dynasty" 1 1/2 years ago. "I spent a lot of years really working on myself," Evans said in the Nov. 24 issue of TV Guide.