Columnist Jerry Fink: T. Fox finds home for his talents at Tropicana

Friday, Aug. 22, 2003 | 8:32 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com at (702) 259-4058.

There's a state park in the remote, heavily forested region of southwest Arkansas where visitors occasionally stumble across a diamond lying on the ground.

If they find one of the precious stones in the 35-acre volcanic field at Crater of Diamonds State Park, they keep it.

Vocalist T. Fox is a gem that patrons of the Tropicana often discover as they walk down a hallway on the second floor of the Island Tower, looking for the Island Buffet.

Fox is a keeper.

His six-octave, high-energy mix of standards, jazz, soul, R&B, funk and rock 'n' roll is attracting droves of old fans and new to the 180-seat Tropics Lounge, next to the buffet. He performs from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.

The multitalented singer and musician (he plays keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, vibes, flute, sax and harmonica) was given a 25-night engagement at the Tropicana in 1999. Saturday he celebrates his fourth year at one of the Strip's oldest venues.

When he first started at the Tropicana, the lounge was actually an open pit at a wide spot in the hallway.

"By my 100th show, they told me they were going to build me a room," Fox said.

The hotel made good on its promise, and today his fans include such local celebrities as Clint Holmes and Mayor Oscar Goodman, who last year gave him a key to the city and proclaimed Aug. 24 "T. Fox Day" in Las Vegas.

Fox, who learned to play piano by age 4, is the son of Maria Jackson, who sang with such pop figures as Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan.

The 40-year-old entertainer received degrees in business and music from the University of Michigan before pursuing his musical career in earnest.

"I actually had planned to be a psychiatrist when I was younger," he said. "But the family said music would never make me a living and that I should pick something solid. I was always good with people, so I thought I would be a psychiatrist."

Psychiatry's loss is the music world's gain.

One of his longest gigs was a seven-year engagement at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, a historic site noted for being the shooting location of the film "Some Like it Hot."

Four years ago Fox came to Vegas, anticipating an engagement at the Luxor.

The gig fell through, and he found himself in town without work.

"Then I stumbled across Cafe Nicolle," he said.

Fox took his wife to the popular restaurant for dinner one evening and noticed it had a piano bar.

"I asked the owner if he minded if I played the piano," Fox said.

When he started performing, patrons began putting money into a bowl on the piano, and the owner asked him if he would stay for a couple of weeks.

Two weeks turned into six months.

While he was there, officials from the Tropicana happened to hear him and invited him to play for the hotel.

Fox doesn't plan to perform in a hallway forever.

"My plan is to take it to a whole other level," he said. "I'm looking for my own room -- somewhere that, when someone asks me to sing 'I Can Fly,' I will actually be able to fly out over the audience."

Most nights his T. Fox & The Fox City Show is a one-man act.

But on Saturdays his wife, Imani, and mother join him. Imani leads six dancers, and his mother performs as Billie Holiday.

"Saturday night is my tribute to the days of big bands," Fox said.

He said one day he would like to have a venue similar to the Moulin Rouge, where the theme would be the Roaring '20s.

"If you're going to dream, dream big," Fox said.

Lounging around

Joe Delaney, esteemed Sun entertainment columnist who died Aug. 7, 2002, always dreamed of living in Ireland. The dream never came to pass, but in July his wife, Roberta, and daughter Kathleen fulfilled another of his dreams -- to make the land of his ancestors his final resting place.

Each year on the last Sunday in July, thousands of Irish Catholics make a pilgrimage up the holy mountain Croagh Patrick.

"They go for penance, to cleanse the soul," Roberta Delaney said.

With Joe's remains in a container in a backpack worn by Kathleen, she and her mother joined 25,000 others and made a five-hour trek to the top of the rocky incline where a small white chapel stands.

"We placed him in a mound of rocks behind the chapel," Roberta said. "This is where he wanted to go. It was a hard climb. I think he was just getting even with Kathleen and I."

Need a disco fix? Try Disco Nights at The Nightclub at Las Vegas Hilton, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. There is no cover and no drink minimum. Call 732-5422 for information.

Jazz saxophonist Tommy Alvarado can be heard from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Sundays at Bootlegger Bistro and 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays at Mandalay Bay's Orchid Lounge.

The Fiesta Henderson's Cancun Room features a free impersonator show at 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Fridays.

Pop artists Toto & Laura perform at The Rio's Ipanema Bar 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Sundays and Tuesdays through Thursdays and 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The show is dark Mondays.

Blues Zydeco performs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays at the Orleans' Brendan's Irish Pub.

The country group Derek Sholl & The Shooters can be heard 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays at Sunset Station's Club Madrid.

Dance fans should check out Doo-Wopp.com at Fiesta Rancho's Cabo Lounge 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.