CLUB REVIEWS : Phats Gives Martini Night Jazz, Swing, Lots of Class

Mr. Phats has the skinny on the cool side of lounge.

Host to the popular, upscale Martini Night at the Viper Room on Thursdays, Phats has an eye and an ear for hip jazz vocalists and swing bands, which he’s booked at the prestigious West Hollywood nightspot for the past 18 months.

Phats has made a name for himself by lining up such artists as actress-singer Beverly D’Angelo, Sinatra impersonator Phil Jeffrey and his 16-piece band, the Royal Crown Revue, Big Town Seven, and the Royal Trio featuring Pinky G. Lamour (the last two are scheduled to perform tonight).

The evening’s tone is so classy that members of the dressed-down scenester crowd take Phats’ cue each week and doll themselves up in swelegant threads--think zoot suits and glamour gowns. Although the cover is $15, it almost guarantees you a celeb sighting or two, and Phats isn’t terribly snobby. An average guy--say Jim Carrey’s “The Mask” character Stanley Ipkiss--can get in. Along with heavy doses from members of the Rat Pack, expect a selection or two from “The Mask” soundtrack, which features the Royal Crown Revue.

This being Tinseltown, Phats is actually fiction--the promoter-deejay for the evening is a guy named Dean R. Miller. No matter. Seems everyone’s wearing a mask these days.

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Mr. Phats’ Martini Night at the Viper Room on Thursdays, 8852 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 21 and older, $15 cover. (310) 358-1880.