POP MUSIC REVIEW : MICHAEL RUFF STILL MOVING TOWARD TOP

It’s hard to understand why Michael Ruff hasn’t become a star. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter-keyboardist, who opened a three-night stand Thursday at At My Place in Santa Monica, would seem to have it all: talent, personality, musicianship, hair. . . .

Ruff, who has served as musical director for Chaka Khan, David Sanborn and Rickie Lee Jones, has an angelic voice with the purity and clarity of Stephen Bishop or Art Garfunkel. His sound draws on a wide range of pop styles, from the pure pop sensibilities of Bishop to the reggae-tinged rock of the Police to the R&B;/funk attack of Rufus to the light jazz noodling of Michael Franks.

These diverse strains were held together by Ruff’s keyboard-centered arrangements and by the fact that all of the material was original.

The Utah native kept the set very loose, at one point working up with his three-man band a song he said he had written only that afternoon. The show occasionally seemed too loose: Ruff let the momentum break down several times while he tinkered with the sound equipment.

Ruff’s ingratiating personality brightened the show. He captured some of the madcap energy of Howie Mandel, but also conveyed a dry, self-deprecating wit.

Ruff has been on the verge of hitting it big for several years. He had his best shot in 1984, when he cut an album for Warner Bros. with top producer Tommy LiPuma. The artist deserves another shot at the brass ring: Ruff is ready.