Who knew the venerable 13 Coins had a live-music lounge?

A recent trip to the remodeled 24-hour restaurant (125 Boren Ave. N.) was like a step back in time to the pre-grunge Seattle nightclub era, when small combos played dimly lit lounges at downtown hotels and restaurants. (Read Leslie Kelly's recent review of the Coins.)

H.B. Radke, Seattle's resident Rat Pack-style crooner and trumpeter, and his Jet City Swingers – drummer Greg Williamson, bassist Phil Demaree and pianist Craig Hoyer – are playing Thursday nights from 8 to midnight at the Night Owl Lounge, the comfy, spacious bar just off the main entrance. The sign outside looks as though it dates to the restaurant's original opening in the late 1960s, but don't be fooled.

Radke (who played his first gig as a boy with Connie Stevens and Rich Little) is the son of Fred Radke, the trumpeter and conductor who leads the Harry James Orchestra, and singer Gina Funes, guest singer for the orchestra.

Funes was also one of several musical guests – along with Paul Jensen (of the Dudley Manlove Quartet) and jazz singer Stephanie Porter – who performed last Thursday at the Coins.

Jensen had fun with "(Escape) The Pina Colada Song" and Funes was terrific on "Come Back to Sorrento (Torna A Sorrento)."

H.B. Radke – dubbed the "man who can get you up when you're down" – hammed it up on a schmaltzy selection of tunes, among them "Nice and Easy," "The Way We Were," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "My Way," which featured Dave the bartender on ice shaker.

Those ice cubes come in handy making such cocktails as the $10 "Bond Martini" featuring equal parts Belvedere vodka and Bombay Sapphire gin, as well as Mediterranean herbed olives.

Williamson, who runs Seattle's Pony Boy Records, recalls playing at the Sea-Tac 13 Coins as a teenager in the 1980s while sitting in with jazz musicians Buddy Catlett and Jack Perciful.

"That's one of the first places I sat in with the 'older generation.' I was still in high school," he said.

The Jet City Swingers are among the first groups to play at the Night Owl Lounge since it was remodeled. Admission is free.

What's your favorite old-school lounge in Seattle?