AT HOLLYWOOD BOWL, A GOOD VIEW OF JAZZ LEGENDS.

Byline: David Kronke Staff Writer

Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben Gonzalez and their musical resurrections represent the most heartening stories to emerge from the phenomenon that is the Buena Vista Social Club.

Prior to the Buena Vista sessions in Cuba that were released to global acclaim in 1997 and remain one of the most buoyant, irresistibly infectious recordings of any stripe of the past five years, Ferrer, now 74, was a shoulda-been, a guy whose singing career had fizzled out after some spotty and indifferently received recordings in the late '50s and early '60s. (He was lured into the sessions, virtually off the street.) Gonzalez, now 81, had abandoned playing the piano because of painful arthritis; the Buena Vista sessions returned him to his love.

Ferrer has since released his own best-selling CD under the Buena Vista imprimatur, and Gonzalez has released a couple of albums of straightforward jazz-piano playing couched in a supple fashion within Latin-tinged backdrops, including his most recent, ``Chanchullo.''

The two returned to Los Angeles for a sold-out date Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl, along with opening act jazz pianist Chucho Valdes. Gonzalez is, understandably, frail these days; he played three numbers, performing as a sort of side man alongside his own band, before turning keyboard duties over to the capable Roberto Fonseca. He did look as though he was about to enthusiastically stage-dive into the crowd as he exulted in their applause before his departure, though, and returned for an encore, a heartfelt performance with Ferrer on the wistful, rueful ``Dos Gardenias'' from the ``Buena Vista'' release.

Ferrer, on the other hand, remains hearteningly spry - at one point he danced chipperly on stage, hopping on one foot from the Bowl's wings to center stage. Dapper in a cream jacket with a rose in its lapel and his trademark white driver's cap, Ferrer is, if anything, in better voice than when he recorded the ``Buena Vista'' and solo CDs, his expressive, pillowy rasp of a voice stronger and more resonant.

Swinging through a set of tunes drawn largely from his solo album, Ferrer performed ``Buena Manigua,'' ``Herido de Sombras'' and the crowd-pleaser ``Marieta.'' The 14-piece backing ensemble was dominated by a brassy, hopping horn and saxophone section that punctuated the music with more pop than the more ruminative, acoustic guitar-dominated recordings. Throughout the set, Ferrer and the band delighted in calling out, in broken English, what was responsible for bringing him there: ``Buena Vee-sta So-see-al Club!''

At points in the evening, couples took to dancing in the Bowl's aisles before the whole crowd took to its feet, moving to the ecstatically sinuous rhythms of versions of the ``Buena Vista'' recordings ``De Camino a la Vereda'' and ``Candela.'' Ferrer and Gonzalez's sets were inspirational reminders that it's never too late to become a legend.