Soph jazz: Tina and Ken Hills, owners of
the newly opened Sophisticatons Jazz Café on South Salina Street, are
getting ready for a Jazz Fest after party. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO
“After going to a lot of different
places, we just realized there really is nothing like {Sophistications}
in Syracuse that we could go to and have a great time, and that we
could enjoy and leave feeling content,” Tina Hills explains. “We said
that if we want to get it, we have to create it.”
So the high school sweethearts now
residing in Cicero, who have been married for 10 years, started
planning for Sophistications in early 2007. Last March the savvy,
jazz-friendly nightspot opened for business.
Ken Hills is currently employed as a
computer programmer for Partners In Health in addition to his managing
role at Sophistications. He noted that downtown’s 20-something bars
give the area a feeling that it is only “for the young crowd. It’s for
the hip.” Ken Hill hopes that with Sophistications,
“The mature audience can come down and be a part and be hip, as well.”
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The location the Hills chose for the
venue, which is adjacent to the Galleries of Syracuse, had previously
been slated to open as Club Najahes, a rhythm’n’blues soul café that
was the brainchild of local rapper and author Rufus Morris. Although
Morris wasn’t able to capitalize upon his dream, the Hills saw an
opportunity and financed their own jazz dream with funds raised through
their professional careers.
“For us, this just made sense, as far as
the location, the atmosphere, the windows,” Tina Hills says.
“Everything just fell in line, so we said if we could really do some
things here, it will work, and that’s why we chose the location.”
The Hills have been busy promoting
open-mike jazz-jam sessions on weekend evenings, which have since
attracted the attention of top names on the local jazz scene, such as
chanteuse Nancy Kelly, saxophonist Jesse Collins and vocalist Ronnie
Leigh. “You could pop in any time and any week and the door is always
revolving,” says Ken Hills. “This is a home of musicians. I think the
best times we’ve had is when musicians have popped in on stage and just
improvved. You know, just went up there raw and just performed.”
Not a full-blown bar, Sophistications
presently serves wine and beer to its patrons. During this weekend’s
JGB Syracuse Jazz Fest, the venue will host special events following
the performances at the OCC campus. Jazz performers the Jesse Collins
Group and J Project will provide an extra helping of jazz for those who
haven’t had enough at the fest, while free wine and beer from a variety
of local providers will be served, with the intention of teaching the
Hills about public taste.
“Myself and Ken, we actually don’t drink
at all,” Tina Hills explains. “The reason we’re doing that {free
beverage event} is because we’re looking for the community to actually
tell us what is the best of the best. So we’ll have several different
wineries and breweries coming down.”
In the meantime, the two are plotting
bigger concepts for Sophistications. The venue itself sits on top of an
additional vacant space 20 feet below its present floor, because the
building’s original plans called for a cinema complex featuring
below-ground screens. The Hills hope to turn that space into additional
areas for bands to play. And they’re also chatting with local eateries
about perhaps bringing in a partner to help serve lunches.
“It’s something about this type of
industry,” Tina Hills says. “You need several different types of
people, different personalities, different everything. One thing that
stays consistent is the love of jazz in this community, but we have to
really focus on bringing people back out of their houses.”
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While the Hills wait for community
support to snowball, the two seem happy with breaching frontier
territory in the local club scene. “I know there’s a lot of talent
locally, and I’m passionate about having a venue where we can bring
those guys in at any given time and have them up here,” Ken Hills says.
“And I want it live!”
Sophistications’ regular hours for the
venue are Thursdays, 5 to 9 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 8:30 to
11:30 p.m. On Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, the venue will be
open from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. for its unofficial JGB Syracuse Jazz Fest
after party. Admission on Jazz Fest weekend will be $5 and will include
free beer and wine samples. For more information, call 372-0970.
—Matt Mumau
