Vocal Chords : Those With a Song in Their Hearts or a Tune in Their Heads Find Fun at the Round Table

Tom Jones and Tony Bennett have risen again. Frank Sinatra and Bono record duets. Lo and behold, the lounge lizard is back.

That makes it a good time to rediscover the piano bar at the Round Table in Santa Monica. This is the real stuff, a savory miracle that has been quietly persisting on a dreary stretch of Wilshire Boulevard for 41 years. Sure it’s something of a fantasy trip through time, but the Round Table is neither kitsch nor camp.

No, call it the thinking man’s Dresden Room.

The interior runs to Bavarian cocktail lounge, with lots of red and black vinyl, a low-beamed ceiling, and faux brick walls-- the kind of authentic period decor that makes set designers salivate.

“It’s like going into a time warp,” says pianist Dick Leslie. “People who have been gone 15 years come in and they say, ‘My God, it’s exactly the same.’

“Jeanne, you can verify this,” he says to bartender, Jeanne Matten.

“Oh yeah,” Matten jokes. “It never changes; they just die.”

Christmas twinkle lights line every window and rafter, although Matten is quick to point out that the holiday trimmings haven’t gone up yet. “Last year we had 33 Christmas trees in here.”

She gestures to a small tree on the bar behind her. “We have that tree up year-round because Bob (Hatten, the owner) thinks every day should be Christmas.”

There’s nary a twentysomething in sight, nor even a yuppie. This is an older crowd, dressed for success, although everyone has a touch of individual style. It’s a good place to come if you’ve forgotten just what can be done with a suit and tie.

The cast of regulars include many who come to flex their vocal cords.

“They enjoy coming here to ‘do the thing.’ It’s an expression here,” says Tony Briggs, a dapper Englishman who sells Jaguars for a living and stops in three nights a week to listen.

“There’s a character about this place. There are places with more sophistication, but places with character are dwindling. And the food is superb.

“Jeanne,” he calls to the bartender in his Yorkshire lilt, “maybe you can talk me into a Glenlivet if you try.”

On a recent Tuesday, an intimate clique of vocalists sits together at the bar that wraps around the grand piano, listening intently to one another’s performances and chatting convivially in between.

Del Hanna, an impeccably mustachioed gent, sings “Fools Rush In” in a voice that is polished and full. “My lady and I both sing here four nights a week. This is a lovely place. People are ultra-friendly. If you came here twice you’d find that everybody starts to say hello to you. And the steaks are absolutely the best in the city.”

Things heat up on the weekends. “Friday and Saturday nights are when it’s really interesting and happening and fun,” says pianist Leslie, who welcomes anything from jazz to rock. “But it’s pretty much a cattle call, with so many singers that I have to limit everyone to two numbers.”

Leslie is the soul of the Round Table, the reason so much singing talent continues to show up, even on a lonely Tuesday night like this one. “I started my 25th year here on Thanksgiving,” he says with a sigh. “It’s almost a steady job.

“I like to play for people with taste,” says Leslie, who welcomes singers of every stripe. “There are only two kinds of music, and that’s good and bad. There’s good rock and there’s bad rock, and good pop and bad pop.

“That’s what I mean by taste.”

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Where: The Round Table, 2460 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 828-2217.

When: Piano Bar takes place Tuesday through Saturday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Cost: Well drinks, $3.50; beer, $2.50-$3; wine by the glass, $3-$4. Prime Rib, $19.95; New York steak, $20.95; chicken and dumplings, $13.95.