By Brian Ray
Students took in a new sight as they walked into the Student Activities Center this past Tuesday shaking off the chill of an early winter morning. What they saw and heard was more than a dozen University of Louisville musicians churning out smooth jazz for an appreciative audience in the SAC’s new Jazzman’s Café.
Jazzman’s will make sights like these a regular occurrence in the SAC, with live music available for students to listen to on two separate days of the week.
SAC Director Tim Moore was also very pleased about the new performers.
“It’s really nice that the performers that come here on campus have a permanent home here at Jazzman’s now,” Moore said.
The music is just one of the amenities that Jazzman’s, opened on Oct. 30, offers to students. With three flat screen televisions, new furniture, and seating for up to 100, Moore hopes it will become a popular destination for students.
“We like to think of the SAC as being the living room of the campus and so this is really enhancing that living room here,” Moore said. “Jazzman’s is really designed to complement what’s already happening here in the SAC.”
Jazzman’s offers a menu which includes smoothies, sandwiches, pastries and a large selection of different blends and flavors of coffee. It also offers a proprietary line of coffees that come entirely from sustainable sources in Colombia, Guatemala and Costa Rica.
“The SAC is really where we want a lot of things to happen,” said Matti Verder, resident district manager of Sodexo at U of L. “Now, Jazzman’s creates that space where students can sit, they can sleep, or do whatever, but it becomes a destination.”
According to Moore, the planning for a new café began well over a year ago.
“We were looking into how we could really make some improvements here in the SAC, one idea was to look into some type of cyber café,” Moore said. “Then we really became very fortunate as we went through the changing of food services that Sodexo had a similar idea.”
According to Verder, the atmosphere is completely unique and offers items not found at any other venue on campus.
“If you look at the design, the colors, the look and appeal, it is exactly different from what is here currently,” Verder explained. “And, this is kind of the look and feel that we are going to try to create throughout the campus expansion of dining services.”
Jazzman’s is now located in the spot where the convenience store element of the campus book store used to be.
According to Moore, music will become a recurring element of the café. On Monday nights, there are a variety of different performers which range from students to local musicians, some times in an open microphone format.
Thus far, student response to the new campus hangout has been mixed.
Junior marketing major Ronald Morton said he was satisfied with Jazzman’s overall, but was unhappy with certain elements.
“I was very displeased with the taste of the coffee,” Morton said. “I really feel that this place is the same as Tulip Tree, but the location is more convenient because it just happens to be closer to where I live.”
Lori DeBiase, a freshman business management major, thinks Jazzman’s will be a popular destination for students.
“I think that this café is better than the old convenience store part of the bookstore because not only does it offer food and computers, it offers a place to relax and hang out,” DeBiase said. “I could see [Jazzman’s] becoming a central meeting place for my friends and I during our breaks between classes.”
