Mel Torme: As Hip As Ever

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Mel Torme and his All-Star Jazz Quintet, presented by the Seattle Symphony, 8 p.m. Thursday, 5th Avenue Theatre; $22-$45, 443-4747. -----------------------------------------------------------------

"The Velvet Fog? What the hell is a Velvet Fog?"

Jerry Seinfeld got laughs with that line in a recent episode of "Seinfeld," and he also raised a good question. A sobriquet for the singer ever since it was coined by a New York disc jockey in 1947, it doesn't adequately convey the genius of Torme. It may have meant something in the '40s, when he affected a soft but husky crooning style, but he abandoned that in the '50s after a long, soul-searching hiatus from the business.

Nevertheless, it's stuck with him, and he's even used it to his advantage, adapting it for the title of his tell-all 1988 autobiography, "It Wasn't All Velvet."

Seinfeld's line was risible not only because it pointed out the vagueness of the term but also because it was a sly reference to another TV sitcom, "Night Court," in which Torme, and references to Velvet Fog, frequently came up. In the show, as in real life, Torme was the hero of its star, Harry Anderson. Torme even made several guest appearances on the show (as he did on that "Seinfeld" episode).

Probably nothing in recent years has helped boost his career as much as "Night Court," although jazz fans have been heralding him ever since his "comeback" in the mid-'70s. Torme, who was a huge radio, recording and film star in the '40s, slumped in the following two decades, only to re-blossom in the '70s. Torme, who will turn 70 in September, just gets better with age.

He also gets hipper. He stars in the current Mountain Dew TV ad campaign, in which he appears to leap from the top of a Las Vegas hotel onto a huge air cushion, like a Hollywood stuntman, without ruffling his tux. Can "MTV Unplugged" be far behind?

Torme's appeal as a singer has to do with the way he understands the material. He brings intelligence, wit, pathos and drama to his singing, as well as elegance and style. A composer himself - "The Christmas Song," a perennial favorite, is his masterpiece - he appreciates good songwriting and is known for unearthing undiscovered gems and crafting masterly medleys. He is probably the finest male scat singer, using his voice like a fine instrument.

Long relegated to minor labels, he's lately found a worthy home on the respected jazz label Concord, which has recorded him in a variety of settings, from duets with George Shearing, to lush orchestral accompaniments to live sets with a combo. Capitol has just released an 18-song compilation disc of Torme in its "Great Gentlemen of Song" series, which includes some previously unreleased tracks.

His concert here, titled "Sing, Sing, Sing," includes a tribute to Benny Goodman and Torme's rendition, on drums, of a classic Gene Krupa solo.