CLUB REVIEW : Alphabet the Deejay Makes a Tasty Martini

After just three weeks, Martini--the new name for the recently revamped T-Room on Melrose Avenue--is on its way to becoming L.A.’s nightclub of choice. Since these trend decisions are made with dizzying speed, the time to check out the upscale venue is now, before the lines outside become too grim.

The ‘50s-style Pan-Am lounge look and red-paneled walls that defined the T-Room are gone. Martini’s decor is more subtle, but a close look at the whitewashed walls--with vinyl albums embedded in them--hints at the club’s main attraction: its music.

Although many of L.A.’s best deejays are already spinning at Martini, the most memorable set currently occurs on Tuesdays, when the deejay known as Alphabet starts off his eclectic set with jazz records such as Bob James’ “Nautilus,” taking listeners on an aural tour of the be-bop and cool-jazz records that provide so much of the sampled music in rap.

He then begins a fusion of old school and new school hip-hop, playing such songs as Gang Starr’s new “Mass Appeal” back to back with Funkadelic’s “Knee Deep.” Maintaining a primarily East Coast flavor, he then highlights Boogie Down Productions’ “South Bronx” and a Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation” before throwing in one of dancehall’s hottest songs, Mega Banton’s “Sound Boy Killing.”

A word of caution for early risers: Alphabet’s skillful, not-by-the-book approach to deejaying makes it difficult to exit the dance floor before closing time.

* Martini, 5657 Melrose Ave . , Los Angeles. (213) 467-4068 . Cover varies.