The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 337

LISTINGS 1 A I. The Charts Record Rack i Pop Retains Strong Tropical Flavor Loved a Woman?" too much when it was a hit last year from the film "Don Juan DeMarco," it's appended here as well. Is this banality by design or by nature? Even after all these years, it's hard to say and hard to say which would be worse. Steve Hochman In Brief Selected listings compiled by Bill Kohlhaase. Send information to Jazz Listings, Calendar, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053.

TOP PICKS Cedar Walton Sun. at Catalina). The pianist-composer's front line includes trumpeter Philip Harper and saxophonists Ralph Moore and Vincent Herring. Also of interest: Mark Dresser (Mod. at Alligator) Shelly Berg (Tue.

at Baked Potato Pasadena) Roland Vazquez at Baked Potato Pasadena) Charlie Haden Quartet West (Thur. at MOCA) Art Davis (Pri. at LACMA) Ray Pizzl Wind Syndicate (Fri. at Coffee Junction) Gary Foster-Alan Broadbent at Club Brasserie). CONCERTS GLORIA ESTEFAN "Destiny" Epic One might expect that after two Spanish-language albums and a collection of her versions of some --father moldy oldies, Estefan would tailor her first traditional pop record in five years solidly toward the American mainstream.

Wisely, she has instead infused her otherwise populist songs with even more Latin influences than usual, zigzagging from the "Higher" to the Colombian sway of "Steal Your Heart." The result is a genuinely rare achievement, a chart topper (inevitably) that doesn't sound like winy of its competition. Occasionally, the tropical feel that sets "Destiny" apart is too heavy-handed. For instance, the relentless calypso of "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)" smacks of gimmickry. But the overall vitality of Este-fan's Latin roots is driven home by the insipidity of her music when it lacks any south-of-the-border or Antillean flavor. "Reach," co-written with Diane Warren, one of the most successful paint-by-numbers songwriters of our times, is so utterly milquetoast that it has been chosen by the Olympics to serve as the official song of the Summer Games.

Give me the serpentine pan-Latin percussion of "Path of the Right Love" any time. JeanRosenbluth BRYAN ADAMS "18 Til I Die" Eighteen? Try 14. Or maybe 10 would be more like it, given the mentality of Adams' return to his good-time rocker role after a five-year side trip as a romantic movie-balladeer-for-hire. t- HERB ROTS STYLISTIC: Gloria Estefan infuses her pop songs with even more Latin influences than usual. The sub-juvenile tee-hee titilla-tion of some song titles "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You" and "(I Wanna Be Your) Underwear" is bad enough.

The songs themselves, witless puns crammed into forced rhymes set to recycled riffs, give dumb fun a bad name. And the title song an apparently sincere anthem to arrested development-should be ashamed to share its number with Alice Cooper's definitive ode to the same age. Meanwhile, Adams' mega-success with gooey movie songs seems to have inspired him: The empty, cheerleading rocker "We're Gonna Win" sounds like a shameless bid for ESPN highlights montages, while the sex-equals-love ballad "Let's Make a Night to Remember" sounds written primarily to be pitched to soap operas. Speaking of soundtracks, in case you didn't hear "Have You Ever Really Pantera, "The Great Southern Trendklll," EastWest. These Dallas speed-metal kings follow up 1994's hit "Far Beyond Driven" album with more scenes of horror pow ered by the usual heavy sludge and dependably ham-fisted rhythms.

Only occasional drifts into acoustic ZeppelinSoundgarden territory break the monotony. On "War Nerve," shouter Philip Anselmo rages against the media and anyone who "judges what I am in one paragraph." At least the little boys understand. Steve Appleford Jimmy Buffett, "Banana Wind," MargaritavilleMCA. How many times can Buffett make the same album? Mildly amusing character pieces arch cultural observations, wistful nostalgia it's all here, with the ever-present scent of pifla colada. Even the "Jamaica Mistai-ca" true-story account of being mistaken for smugglers by trigger-happy police seems pedestrian, especially coming from, as he reminds us in "School Boy Heart," a best-selling novelist.

Sip it up. Parrot Heads. -Sff. Various artists, "The Cable Guy" soundtrack, Work. Jim Carrey's hokey but surprisingly evocative rendition of the Jefferson Airplane's '60s anthem "Somebody to Love" would be reason enough to buy this collection but there's plenty more.

Silverchair's adrenaline-pumping "Blind," Ruby's exotic "This Is" and Cypress Hill's brooding "The Last Assassin" make this collection a sure-fire summer hit. Cheo Hodari Coker Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). TimesLine To hear excerpts from the albums reviewed, call TimesLine and press and the artist's corresponding four-digit code. Gloria Estefan 5713 Bryan Adams 5714 Pantera 5715 Jimmy Buffett 5716 "The Cable Guy" 5717 In 806 area code, call (8 1 8) 808-8463. Too Short He's Too Much Too Short has called it quits, but he's back on top.

Ten years and 10 albums after his grass-roots debut, the Oakland-based rapper's raunchy but deeply funky music is as popular as ever. "Gettin' It," his "retirement album," debuts at No. 1 on The Times' Southern California chart with first-week sales of 156,000, and No. 3 nationally. Soundgarden's "Down on the Upside," meanwhile, debuts at No.

2 locally and nationally. Still on top of the national chart is the Fugees' eclectic "The Score." TOP 10 ALBUMS Title, Artist (Natl Rank) Last Week 1 Gettin' It, Too Short (3) 2DownontheUpsldeSoundgarden(2) 3 The Score, Fugees (1) 2 4 Jagged Uttie Pill, Alanis Morissette (4) 3 8 Older, George Michael (9) 1 6 New Beginning, Tracy Chapman (6) 7 7 Falling Into You, Celine Dion (5) 4 8 To the Faithful Departed, the Cranberries (10) 6 9 Fairweather Johnson, Hootie the Blowfish (7) 5 10 Crash, Dave Matthews Band (8) 10 TOP 10 SINGLES Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Tha Crossroads, Bone Thugs-N-Har-mony(l) 1 2 MetaUIca, Until Sleeps 3 Tree DeUnquentes, Delinquent Habits (38) 2 4 You're Making Me High, Toni Braxton (4) 3 6 Fastlove, George Michael (7) 4 7 Touch Me, Tease Me, Case (9) 14 8 Keep On Keep-in' On, MCLyte (10) 5 9 Get Money, Junior MAFIA. (15) 6 10 Always Be My Baby, Marian Carey (5) 7 TOP 10 ALBUMS Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 2 The Score, Fugees (1) 1 3 E. 1999 Eternal, Bone Thugs-N-Har-mony5) 3 4 New Beginning, SWV (9) 2 SAtlEyuOnMe, 2Pac(8) 4 8 Daydream, Mariah Carey (3) 7 7 Sunset Park, soundtrack (6) 3 8 Mission to Please, tsley Brothers (10) 8 9 Waiting to Exhale, soundtrack (7) 5 10 Gangsta's Paradise, Coolio(S) 9. Soun SoundScan torveelfedihg MayW TODAY Buddy Collette with Al Aarons, Ronnell Bright, George Bohanon, others (Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E.

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, 805 449-2787, 7 p.m.). THURSDAY Charlie Haden Quartet West (MOCA, 152 N. Central (310 396-9309, 5 Free. Dwlght Kennedy and the Dixie Kings (Ivy Substation, 9070 Culver Culver City, 1310 838-5734, 5:30 p.m.). Free.

FRIDAY Art Davis Quintet with Horace Tapscott (L.A. County Museum of Art, 5905 Wil-shire 213 5.30 p.m.). Free. Norman Brown, Strunz and Farah (Hyatt Newporter Hotel, 1107 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach, 714 650-5483, 7 p.m.). SATURDAY Patrice Rushen (Gallery Theatre, Barnsdall Art Park.

4800 Hollywoood 213 485-0709, 2 Free. The Rippkigtons with Russ Freeman, Boney -James, Randy Crawford (Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont (213) 665-1927, 7:30 p.m.) Al Jarreau (Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 714 556-2787, 8 p.m.). Richard Elliot, Tony Guerrero, George Jlftda, Rob Mulllns, others (Softball Amphitheatre, SaMeback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Misssion Viejo, 714 582-4656, 1:30 p.m.

"KSBR-FM All Star Birthday Bash." CLUBS Performances typically start between 730 and 930 p.m. Exceptions and venues with multiple shows are noted. Addresses are noted after the listings. TODAY Don Randi A Quest (Baked Potato North Hollywood). Also Frt-Sat.

Deep Blue (Baked Potato Pasadena). Dan Bagasoul Jam (Cafe du Monde). Wilbur Brown (Cat A Fiddle). Vanessa Rubin, Sonny Fortune (Catalina). Margaret Whiting (CinegriU) Also Sat.

Larry Karush (Club Brasserie). 11 a.m. Uoyd Hebert Jax). Bobby Rodriguez (Jazz Bakery). 3 p.m.

Also Bill Henderson with Mike Metvoln, 8 p.m. Ray Fuller (UVe Lee). Dewey Emey, Bill Berry (Miceli's). 1,1 'GSaisGip92isEar AL BROOKS TICKETS A II. I VyS A lift 1 ft I I I A fA4t A II I ill chi li toe included 62 SUNDAY..