Columnist Jerry Fink: Hunt down many lounge celebs at Bootlegger

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 8:58 a.m.

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

Only in Las Vegas.

What other city in the country can boast of a lounge act that includes the state's lieutenant governor?

And Nevada's second-in-command, Lorraine Hunt, doesn't even get star billing -- that goes to her husband, Blackie Hunt, and Sonny King, both of whom are local entertainment legends.

Every Friday and Saturday, from about 10 p.m. until whenever everyone decides to call it quits, the lounge scene at the Bootlegger Bistro is jumping.

You don't have to be politically inclined to enjoy the lieutenant governor's performance at the Italian restaurant she and her family own. The show is strictly nonpartisan.

One recent Friday night I dropped by the establishment on far Las Vegas Boulevard South. The audience was packed with show people, many of whom had just finished their gigs at various lounges and showrooms and stopped at the 24-hour restaurant to relax. Their idea of relaxation is to entertain.

Sonny and Blackie did a few numbers and comic bits they perfected over several decades in the business. Lorraine, a successful entertainer before entering business and politics, sang a few songs and proved she's still got her voice.

And then things began to go a little crazy.

The show became a revue with Blackie and Sonny directing the heavy flow of entertainment traffic, which backed up like rush hour in the Spaghetti Bowl.

Steve Lippia of the "Rat Pack is Back" sang a few Sinatra tunes; comedian Sandy Hackett sang "Rainbow Connection" and did a dead-on imitation of Kermit the Frog; identical twin pianists Mark & Clark (Seymour) and a dozen or so other performers shared the stage (actually a corner of the dining area).

"The show's called 'Off the Cuff,' " Sonny said. "We bend with the audience."

"The intent, really, is to savor an old lounge tradition, not to bring it back. You can't do that," said Blackie, an accomplished pianist and a gifted comic with a face as malleable as Silly Putty.

They described the show as "improv."

"I don't think I'd be doing this if we had a rehearsed act," Blackie said.

The improv party has been going on for a couple of months, starting soon after the restaurant moved to its new location from the site on South Eastern Avenue it had occupied since 1972.

"It's therapy for me, it's therapy for Blackie, it's therapy for everybody," said Sonny, one of the last old-time saloon singers of the Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett School of Crooning.

Sonny, who was friends and sparring partners with middleweight champion Rocky Graziano, has been in lounge therapy more than 60 years, Blackie more than 50.

They've been close friends since arriving in Las Vegas in 1955, about the time Louis Prima was king of the lounge scene. Blackie arrived in February with a group called the Characters, and Sonny arrived in July.

"The first show group to work Las Vegas that did comedy and sang was the Mary Kaye Trio," Blackie said. "The second group was Louis Prima. The Characters was the third group. Freddy Bell was in there somewhere, and then came Sonny."

Sonny worked with Jimmy Durante for 28 years.

"I was working at the Sahara opposite the Characters and in-between shows there I would go and do two shows at the Sands with Jimmy Durante," Sonny said.

Blackie was at the International (now the Las Vegas Hilton) when his future wife was performing across the street at the Landmark (now gone). After a couple of years they teamed up -- onstage and off.

"I just liked that funny face," Lorraine said. "What amazed me about him was he would go from all this bizarre comedy, off-the-wall stuff and sit down and play the piano. His musical ability was really amazing."

The whole show is amazing. It's got my vote.

Lounging around

The Blue Note Jazz Club on Monday hosted a benefit for JazzReach Performing Arts & Education Association. It's too late to attend but not too late to donate. JazzReach was created in 1994 to keep interest in jazz alive among the young. For more information, check out the website (jazzreach.org).

The owners of Castaways made a commitment to quality live entertainment for locals. They seem to be standing by their commitment. Sam Butera and The Wildest will be there through Sunday and again May 30-June 3. The Platters will perform three shows on May 28.