Columnist Jerry Fink: Singing at Bellagio’s Baccarat Bar is a mute point

Friday, May 18, 2001 | 9:04 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.

Is there a special technique to entertaining gamblers who may be losing millions of dollars?

"We don't sing," Bruce Zarka said.

Zarka is a pianist at the Baccarat Bar in the Bellagio, where the aroma of wealth is as thick as cigarette smoke in a neighborhood tavern. Until he got the gig a year ago vocals were a big part of his act -- the same with his partner, bass player Geralyn Lee.

But the rule at the Baccarat is no singing.

And no rock 'n' roll.

Zarka and Lee, who have heavyweight musical credentials, are adept at any genre -- jazz, classical, show tunes, pop standards -- and prove it five nights a week (Sundays through Wednesdays from 4:15 to 8:30).

"But here, we don't do rock 'n' roll," Zarka said.

They save their singing and rocking for other gigs and entertain the ritzy clientele with jazzy tunes, show tunes, standard tunes as background to enhance the ethereal ambiance of the lounge-in-the-round adjacent to the baccarat room.

Instrumental sounds of "Harlem Nocturn," "Hello, Dolly" and "Never on Sunday" mix with the sounds of the crowd talking business and pleasure over martinis and Manhattans.

"We love it here," Zarka said.

Why not? It's where some of the wealthiest people in the world come to flirt with lady luck. Piles of $10,000 chips are not uncommon. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were by one evening before they broke up. The film "Ocean's Eleven" just finished shooting here.

Zarka, winner of the 1980 Liberace Keyboard Entertainment Search competition, has been a professional musician for more 30 years, and Lee has been one for more than 20. Both have played high-class venues before, so they are comfortable in Bellagio's heady atmosphere.

Lee, whose mother is a jazz musician in the San Francisco Bay Area, started her career in 1978 at the age of 17 with the Texas Playgirls, a country band. She joined the group in Reno and spent five years touring the world. It was when the TV show "Dallas" was an international hit and there were country bars in places such as Germany and Japan.

Zarka had his own band from 1980 to 1990. Lee joined it in 1984.

"She used to baby-sit my daughter when we were on the road," Zarka said.

In 1987 she left the band, and their careers took different paths until 1999, when they re-teamed at the Mirage and now the Bellagio.

Las Vegas old-timers may remember a song Zarka composed in 1990 called "Tark the Shark." He finished it three months before former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and the Rebels won the NCAA championship.

"We went to (Tarkanian's) home to talk to him about residuals, to see if he needed to be paid," Zarka recalled. "He said, 'No, no. I have enough trouble with the NCAA as it is. I don't want residuals.' "

Zarka toured with Louis Prima in the twilight of the great man's career (1972-75). Zarka was onstage with Prima and the band in Chicago when Prima collapsed.

"We thought he had a heart attack. He fell right down onstage," Zarka said.

But Prima had a brain tumor and was in a coma for three years before he died.

What did Zarka, who has a degree in music from the St. Louis Institute of Music, learn from the madcap Italian lounge performer?

"He once told me, 'Maybe we do 15 shows in a week. If by chance we ever do one bad show, that's the one they will remember. So we go out there and play pretty for the people.' "

Lounging around

The Regent Las Vegas has gone through a musical renaissance.

Addison's Lounge now has music and dancing four nights a week: karaoke on Wednesdays, Doo-Wop on Thursdays and a house band (the Real Deal) on Fridays and Saturdays. The Jimmy Allen Trio has a jam session on Sundays beginning at 7 p.m.

Gustav's Cigar Bar has dancing with live music by Teddy Kaye every Thursday, Friday and Saturday beginning at 8 p.m. The Upstairs Market Buffet has strolling musicians on Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Hawaiian music and hula dancers on Monday from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The J.C. Wooloughan Irish Pub features a sing-a-long with John Windsor on Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m.; the O'Darevlis on Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m. and the Wild Celtics on Sunday at 4 p.m.

The Oxo Lounge has music and dancing on Thursday and Friday starting at 9:30 p.m.

Beginning in June, Caffe Concerto will feature a variety of live music (piano, harp, violin, singing) on weekends and special holidays.