?I FORGOT THE LYRICS,? SAID Vivian Velez right after singing ?Blue Moon? impromptu. But the audience, majority of whom were men, couldn?t care less and were probably imagining the former model-actress? ?Miss Body Beautiful? days as she swayed onstage.

Before her, several other personalities had gamely stood up as their names were called.

Trixia Gomez, another former screen siren, was a tease as she jammed along to ?Crazy.?

Isabel Rivas, still another erstwhile actress, tried her best to keep up with the tempo.

TV host and Inquirer Lifestyle columnist Cory Quirino flashed a dazzling smile before tackling ?If.? She was sharing a table earlier with Charlie ?Atong? Ang, who would stand up every now and then to talk on his cell phone.

Now, if this were an imaginary scene from a future movie inspired by Scorsese?s ?Casino,? then probably Joseph Estrada and Chavit Singson would soon show up and join Ang ? to shake hands and make peace among themselves.

Except that this was just a happy Thursday night at a club called 7th Note, inside the Makati Golf Club on Malugay Street.

Having fun

The place was packed; everybody had come to see the night?s featured performer, Arthur Manuntag. The celebs who jammed were his friends and the impromptu numbers were his way of having fun throughout his performance.

Manuntag, a veteran of the club circuit here and abroad, had told us he could sing pop, rock, R&B, soul, everything. But for the past 10 years or so, he?s become seriously attracted to jazz and the standards ? which suited him well, because people flock to his gigs.

On this particular night, he had a crack trio of musicians for his band: Cesar Cruz (of the famed Cruz clan and 747 Band) on drums; Colby de la Calzada on bass; and Romy Posadas on electric piano.

After a short instrumental warm-up, the group launched into a lilting version of ?Come Fly With Me? ? Posadas? keyboard fills playfully cascading as Manuntag exuded vocal confidence that could make Frank Sinatra imitators quake in their shoes.

Segueing into ?All of Me,? Manuntag kept a cruising pace, then shifted with an adventurous round of scatting, first with basic vocals, then proceeding to sound like the piano, bass and drums.

No clone

By the third number, a 1940s standard called ?It?s Magic,? it was clear that Manuntag?s vocal influence is not Sinatra, but Tony Bennett. The next song was a giveaway: ?I Left My Heart in San Francisco.? But apparently Manuntag wouldn?t be caught dead being labeled a clone, because his own creative mark would show, with the way his vibrato melded into a powerful yet pleasing ending.

The next several tunes were medleys, demonstrating Manuntag?s versatility: From Franki Valli (?Can?t Take My Eyes Off You?) to Matt Monro (?From Russia With Love,? ?Walk Away,? ?Born Free,? ?Softly, As I Leave You?), and even Elvis Presley (?Blue Suede Shoes?) ? the last one decided spontaneously to accommodate a guest who was plugging a show at the same venue.

Highlighting the band?s jazz bent was ?That?s All,? which began in slow-drag before picking up speed via swing, Manuntag gladly acting as musical navigator.

As the band took a break, the crowd swelled and the conversation and laughter turned more animated. As the drinks flowed, the 7th Note resembled a hot party place.

?We want to attract the 35-and-above crowd,? said manager Lito Domantay. ?I spent P30,000 for that,? he added, pointing to the egg trays on the ceiling ? a requisite for good room acoustics, especially for jazz gigs.

The band?s second set brimmed with more jazz versions of Tin Pan Alley, but at times with Manuntag doing a big, operatic finale. An example was ?Till,? originally with French lyrics, but whose English lines Manuntag mixed with Pete Lacaba?s Salinawit version.

More guests were called to jam, including a talented female singer, Jeli Mateo, who?s said to be back in the country after a three-year stint in Malaysia.

At this point, a lady from the crowd was seen being carried away, too tipsy to walk by herself.

Money can?t buy happiness? But it doesn?t take much to have a nice time with good music, at least for a couple of hours, like what happened on this night.

(Arthur Manuntag performs with the Romy Posadas Trio Thursdays, 9:30 p.m. at 7th Note.)