The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 116

5Ca J' ''li-i" OS 11 acnana iu i 1 1 i JVU I 1 1 1 1 i I I Prime-Time TV Rankings Take Jazz Back to the Basics i. For CBS, Winter Olympics Isn't All Downhill CBS' Winter Olympics coverage has received decidedly mixed scores from the ratings judges, falling well short of expectations but still dominating the ratings race, based on results for last week issued Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. Even failing to meet pre-Olympic estimates, the Games have nearly doubled CBS' prime-time average this season and last week surpassed the combined audience for any two competing networks. In general, younger-skewing programs such as Fox's "King of the Hill," "Melrose Place" and "The X-Files," ABC's "The Drew Carey Show" and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," and the WB's "Dawson's Creek" best weathered the Olympic storm. ABC has fared worst in countering the Olympics, ranking fourth the last two weeks; by contrast, Fox's aggressive challenge earned a silver-medal finish among adults 18-49, the primary age group sought by advertisers.

NBC bailed out a bit last week by offering reruns of "Seinfeld" and "Friends," plus the two-hour pilot that launched "ER." Fox also helped its cause with a special about the blockbuster movie "Titanic," sailing off with ratings roughly 40 higher than what "Millennium" averages in the same Friday time slot -BRIAN LOWRY National Nielsen Viewership Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Feb. 9-15) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates that there are 254 million potential U.S. viewers age 2 and older.

Viewership is listed here in millions. Net- VW Pro0aai worit an 89. The Sentinel UPN 296 9a The Tom Sruw WB 2.79 91. MoeehatBpjTL) UPN 2.60 92 AlntfitAlreedy WB 2.43 93. Clueless fMOpjn.) UPN 138 century, was the most expansive work of the evening.

It was followed by a series of large and small instrumental combinations, playing items from the familiar jazz repertoire in intimate, spontaneous fashion. There was, for example, a lovely rendering of "God Bless the Child" via a duet between Underwood's tuba and Henderson's fluent trumpet. There were similarly engaging versions of "These Foolish Things" and "You Don't Know What Love Is" featuring Marsalis' imaginative, articulate trombone playing. The effectiveness of these numbers was enormously heightened by the austerity of the instrumentation and the purely acoustic, unam-plified sound. With no harmonic instrument-piano or guitar providing a cushion, the horn players were essentially on their own, obliged to spell out their melodies in a harmonic framework of their own making.

And they did so splendidly in the case of Henderson, magnificently. The slower ballads were contrasted with surging versions of "Straight, No Chaser" and a highspeed "Donna Lee," all held together by Roach's superb drumming. At 74, he continues to be one of the principal standards for intelligent musical drumming, his playing informed with compositional structure and a constant awareness of the drum kit's unique sonorities. In characteristically thoughtful fashion he is, with the So What Brass 5, providing a mesmerizing view of the inner essence of the jazz experience. mMax Roach the So What Brass 5 at the Jaa Bakery through Sunday.

3233 Helms Culver City, (310) 271-9039. f20 cover tonight at 8:30 and 10, and Sunday at 6:30 and 8 p.m., $22 cover Friday and Saturday at and 10 p.m. By DON HECKMAN SPECIAL TO THE TIMES It doesn't exactly sound like the stuff of great jazz: a drummer and a brass quintet. No bass, no piano, no guitar. But in the hands of Max Roach and his So What Brass 5 at the Jazz Bakery on Tuesday night, it was all that was needed an ensemble that produced some of the purest, most essential jazz moments heard this season.

In the opening performance of a six-night run, Roach and his players focused on the core of jazz, setting aside the trimmings in favor of uncluttered, unadulterated improvisation. improvisation" is the way Roach described it at the close of the set, "that's what it Roach sat in the center of the stage behind his drum kit, with trumpeters Rod McGaha and Eddie Henderson, with tuba player Antonio Underwood on one side and trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and French horn player Mark Taylor on the other. Looking like the benign guru that he really is, Roach calmly directed the proceedings with a multiplicity of subtle rhythmic commands, sometimes drumming his two sticks together to kick off a tune, at other times encouraging his players with smiling murmurs of support The result was a series of continuously compelling musical excursions, responded to knowingly and enthusiastically by a full-house audience. An opening Roach composition, "Ghost Dancers," a rich-textured, rhythmic work that beautifully reflected its apparent inspiration in the tragic, Native American ghost dancers of the 19th Gold medalist Picabo Street Network Averages Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season. Last Week CBS 25.91 million NBC 11.60 FOX 10.78 ABC 10.73 WB 4.83 UPN 3.58 Season to Date NBC 15.48 million CBS 14.23 ABC 12.64 FOX 10.70 WB 4.48 UPN 4.19 Southland Viewing Here are Nielsen's Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week.

The rankings are based on the number of households watching. Ntt- View- Prolan worit an 1. Olympics (Thur CBS 29.19 2. Olympics (Sun.) CBS 28.79 3. Olympics (Tue.) CBS 26.90 4.

Olympics (Sat.) CBS 24.54 5. 60 Minutes CBS 24.22 6. Olympics CBS 22.97 7. Olympics (Wed.) CBS 22.63 8. Olympics (Mon.) CBS 22.52 9.

Seinfeld NBC 18.73 10. ER NBC 18.71 11. TheX-Bes FOX 18.04 12. Friends NBC 17.96 13. The Dnw Carey Shoar ABC 17.17 14.

Home Improvement ABC 16.97 15. Kit of the Hi FOX 16.77 16. "Somethr to Tall About" NBC 16.52 17. TheSmpsons FOX 15.96 la WoriderM World of Disney ABC 13.61 19. NYPDBue ABC 13.17 20.

SaMn the Teenage Witch ABC 13.01 21. DateeheNBC(Mon.) NBC 12.95 22. Grace Under Fire ABC 12.78 23. DharmaiGrej ABC 1240 24. SOU Man ABC 12.30 25.

The Drear Carey Stnr, (Tue.) ABC 1216 26. Beverly Ml. 90210 FOX 12.14 27. Boy Meets work! ABC 12.11 28. 2020 ABC 12.09 29.

2020 (Mon.) ABC 11.84 30 Party of Five FOX II A3 31. 'Titanic Break Gnund" FOX 11.73 32. "Motow 40" Parti ABC 11.62 33. PrmTlrneUw ABC 11.50 34. DateaneNBC(Tue.) NBC 11.40 35.

America's Funniest Videos ABC 11.24 Sabrna. Teen. Wtcn (8 p.m.) ABC 11.24 37. Wortrsftmestl FOX 11X11 38. SrtlexkFnmtheSunrWed.) NBC 10.60 39.

SpilOty ABC 10.47 40. "Tommy Boy" NBC 10.45 41. Motnaeflaa FOX 10.39 42. The Practice ABC 10.31 DetekneNBC(FrL) NBC 10.31 44. Mad About You NBC 10.30 45.

FJen ABC 10.27 46. Frasler NBC 10.20 47. Canine In the Crty NBC 10.16 48. 'When Cars Attack" ABC 10.09 49. Just Shoot Me NBC 10.08 Cops (9:30 pjn.) FOX 10.08 51.

Teen Angel ABC 10.07 52. OateiKNBC(Sun.) NBC 9.99 53. Bad Soys" FOX 9.77 54. Cops (9 pm.) FOX 9.75 56. FOX 9.66 56.

SuddenrySusan NBC 9.49 57. "Clrde of Friends" NBC 9.37 56. The Naked Truth NBC 9.08 59. Fired Up NBC 60. Cops FOX 8.76 61.

Canine In the City (Tue.) NBC 8.35 62. Beyond Bf4et. Far or Fiction FOX 877 63. "PteyinjtoWlV NBC 8J5 64. "TV Censored Bkxpers '98" NBC 7.75 65.

"The Perfect Qetaway" ABC 7.47 66. World's FOX 7.35 67. Bully, the Vampire Slayer WB 6.77 68. Dawson's Creek WB 6.48 69. 7 Heaven WB 5.96 70.

"Caddysnack" ABC 552 71. rVok Undercover FOX 5.45 72. Srster.Ssuy WB 5.40 73. Smart Guy WB 5.34 74. Star Trek Voyager UPN 5 32 75.

The Wayam Brae. WB 5.19 76 The Steve Harvey Shoe WB 5.09 77. TtieJame Font Show WB 4.42 78. the House (8:30 p.m.) UPN 4.04 79. ABC News Saturday ABC 3.84 80.

Unhappily Ever After WB 343 81. The Parent 'Hood WB 3.77 In the House UPN 3.77 83. Good News UPN 3.62 84. Three WB 3.55 85. Good News (9:30 pan) UPN 138 86.

Moesht UPN 335 87. Clueless UPN 129 88. NirtFreno: licensed Teacher WB 115 KAGEL: Profound Humor to 60Mnuts I. 2. KCBS 1.051,938 KN8C 761.403 KTTV KNBC KNBC KTTV 731448 721,329 716,320 596.098 1 TheX-Ftes 4.

Seinfeld 5. ER 6. Melrose Place Beverly Hrb, 90210 King of the Hrl 9l Horn InipiDveiTitflt 10. Party of Five The Simpsons KTTV 596,098 KTTV 596,096 KABC 591,069 KTTV 586,060 KTTV 586,060 "classic horror silent "Nosferatu." Further sides of this remarkable composer can be found in the excellent series of recordings of his music on the French label Avudis Montaigne. But the bigger news from Europe is that Kagel's major music theater works are turning out to be classics of our time.

And his brief but telling visit here indicates that we, on this side of the Atlantic, are clearly missing something. Continued from Page 50 like rhythms go continually awry, melodies break apart in always unexpected ways, and instrumental colors rain down upon the audience. In both these works, the theatrical impact requires virtuosity, and the performances were of a high order. Kagel, it turns out, is a masterful conductor who galvanized the Philharmonic players. But this is only one side of the composer.

A film by Kagel was shown before the concert, another had been screened the night before at Art Center College of Design as part of the Beyond the Pink performance art festival. In one, "Blue's Blues," Kagel invents a turn-of-the-century New Orleans blues singer with the rawest voice you've ever heard. The other, "MM 51," gives a different twist to the RADIO For the Record Opera Tenor Alan Woodrow sang the role of Herod in Strauss' "Salome" for San Diego Opera. He was misidentified in a review in Tuesday's Calendar. Noon-2 p.m.

George Putnam's Talkback, KIEV (870). Noon-3 p.m. Dennis Prager. KABC (790). Nooa-3 p.m.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Kfl (640). 1 -2, 7-8 p.m.-Fresh Air. KPCC-FM (89.3). p.m.

Bookworm: Tess Gallagher the Owl Woman KCRWFM (89.9). 3-7 p.m. Larry Elder, KABC (790). 3-7 p.m. John and Ken.

KFI (640). 3- 7 p.m.-Tom Leykis, KLSX-FM (97.1). p.m. Ray Briem, KIEV (870). 4- 5 p.m.-Marc Cooper.

KPFK-FM (90.7). 4-6 p.m. Connecting Point KYPA (1230). 4-6 p.m. Live From Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Irving Fiyar KKU-FM (99.5).

Chopin (Sonata No. 2 in B-flat, pianist Andre Wans). KKGO-FM (105.1). SPORTS p.m. Laker Profiles: "Del Harris," Part 3.

KLAC (570). 7-10 p.m. Winter Olympics Covtrage, KRLA(IHO). p.m. Basketball: Denver Nuggets at Lakers, KLAC (570).

p.m. Basketball: Miami Heat at Clippers. KEZY-FM (95.9). TALK, INTERVIEW 11 a.m.-l p.m. Talk of the Natioi.

KPCC-FM (89.3). 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Joaathon Brandmeier, Noon-1 p.m. Living Room. KPFK-FM 190.7).

TIPS FOR TODAY 5-7 p.m. Larry Mantle's Airtalk: Los Angeles Disi. Any. Gil Garceni p.m.), "The Nation of Islam" p.m.). KPCC-FM 189.3).

p.m., a.m. Gunsmoke: "Man Who Lives by the Sword." KNX (1070). 10 p.m.-midnight Chicago Symphony: Daniel Barenboim conducts Wagner (Prelude to the opera "Die Mozart Mass in KKGO-FM (105.1). DRAMA-COMEDYFAMILY p.m., a.m. Escape: "A Most Dangerous Game." KNX (1070).

MUSIC: CLASSICAL 10:45 a.m.niooa Matterpiect of the Day: I 800 IA TIMES to subscribe, lllS ANHFI F.S I WFFKFNn 52 THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 19. 1998.