TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : Excellent Good Fair Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“Harvest Jazz Series: Dexter Gordon/Bobby Hutcherson.” Sony. $29.95. The ambiance and music are fine on Hutcherson’s half hour: an outdoor setting at the Paul Masson winery in Saratoga, with good sound and camera work--and featuring the vibraphonist backed by a strong rhythm team with Jessica Williams at the piano. Steve Allen hosts and is heard briefly on piano. Then comes Dexter Gordon (the Dale Turner character in the “Round Midnight” movie), slow and ponderous on a 10-minute “Skylark” but closer to his early spirit in an up-tempo blues. Both segments are diminished by interruptions in which the two leaders mouth small talk about their art; Gordon is even made to voice-over during one of his own solos.