A Message From the Messenger : Jazz: ‘Godfather of rap’ Gil Scott-Heron, in Seal Beach Sunday, says hip-hop artists shouldn’t bury their meaning in the rhythm.

The message is always central with Gil Scott-Heron, even when it’s delivered over a cellular telephone.

On the loose somewhere on Manhattan’s Upper West Side earlier this week, Scott-Heron was explaining how some rhythms, notably hip-hop, aren’t suitable for certain messages. Then the transmission starts to break up.

“Can I call you back in two minutes?” he asked. “I’ve got to replace the battery.”

Moments later, he finished the thought as if there had been no interruption.

“There’s too many folks depending on the same rhythm,” he explained. “Sure, it’s exciting, but it doesn’t always bring the message home. It’s a question of how to balance rap and music. More rappers are now becoming better musicians. And that’s good.”

That balance of words and music has been the focus for Scott-Heron, who stirred the political consciousness of a generation beginning in the ‘70s with such songs as “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and “Johannesburg.”

Often dubbed by the media as the “godfather of rap,” a title he modestly denies, Scott-Heron isn’t hesitant to offer advice to his younger colleagues. The 45-year-old musician, poet and novelist ended 12 years of recording silence in 1994 with the release of “Spirits” on the TVT label. The disc opened with a call to the rap generation, “Message to the Messengers,” that reminded the hip-hoppers of the responsibilities they have to their community and the world at large:

We got respect for young rappers and the way they’re free-wheelin’

But if you’re gonna be teachin’ folks things, be sure you know what you’re saying

Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how

Remember, if it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t be out there now . . . The release of “Spirits” thrust Scott-Heron back into the public eye. He toured the country while being touted in the pages of Spin, Vibe and a host of other magazines and newspapers. So it might seem a comedown to find the keyboardist-vocalist playing such tiny venues as McCabe’s in West Los Angeles, as he does tonight and Spaghettini in Seal Beach, as he does Sunday.

Not so, said Scott-Heron: “I have backed off from performing since last year. After we toured Europe and Japan, we spent a couple months sitting down. But I’ve been out there.”

“Out there” includes his appearance last month for Martin Luther King’s birthday at S.O.B.’s club in New York, a date his record company had described as a sort of stand-up comedy appearance.

“The record company said I was doing stand-up? No. I always try to comment on the things that occur to me, point out what’s going on in a way more ironic than hilarious. We’ve always done that. But we do the things that are part of the message--’The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,’ ‘B Movie’--things that have political subjects, especially around February and Black History Month.”

Concerning the size of the venues he’s playing, Scott-Heron was only slightly defensive.

“I like the smaller places,” he said. “We get a more personal thing going with the audience.”

For his California dates, Scott-Heron will appear at the keyboard with support only from a percussionist and, possibly, with guests like saxophonist Leon Williams and bassist Malcolm Cecil, who live in Southern California and who played on “Spirits.”

That spare format is in stark contrast to “Spirits,” a jazz-based, instrumentally rich outing that includes the John Coltrane title tune, dressed with Scott-Heron’s optimistic, almost gospel-flavored lyric.

“I was a piano player before I was a poet,” Scott-Heron said. “I know music, how to write and arrange, and that’s why we can put something like (‘Spirits’) together. I started out working with a percussionist when I was at Lincoln (University, Pa., in the late ‘60s). Sometimes, not having a lot of instruments facilitates the message.”

These days, his message is much the same as it was back in the ‘70s: Work together. Push peace. Listen and learn. Act accordingly.

“I’ve always had questions about what it meant to be a protester, to be in the minority. Are the people who are trying to find peace, who are trying to have the Constitution apply to everybody, are they really the radicals? We’re not protesting from the outside. We’re inside. I’m sure the people who want these same things are the majority. It’s those in control who are the minority.”

Today, the message is coming out in new ways. Scott-Heron has been asked to contribute to the soundtrack for the forthcoming film from Melvin and Mario Van Peebles, “Panther,” based on the experiences of Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and their Oakland-based Black Panthers organization.

He’s also tentatively scheduled to appear this spring at the 25th anniversary of the National Guard shootings of student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio. Also, he’s working on a book about his 1987 tour with Stevie Wonder that successfully sought to establish a national holiday in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King. And he’s still writing music.

“I’ve just finished a number called ‘There’s a War Going On,’ about what’s happening on the streets, what the kids are doing and going through,” he said. “It’s the way I see what’s going on out there.”

* Gil Scott-Heron appears tonight at McCabe’s, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. 8 and 10:30 p.m. $17.50 (310) 828-4497. Also Sunday at Spaghettini, 3005 Old Ranch Parkway, Seal Beach. 9 p.m. $20. (310) 596-2199.