A night out at Cyprus’ new jazz bar

Why the new venture is named Ella, why food is served without cutlery and why more jazz deserves to be heard

It is a Thursday night and the old town of Nicosia is calm yet there is always a buzz within the walls. Beer bottles clink, coffee cups are brewing, guide books are open. I park my car in the zig-zagged streets and make my way to the recently-opened Ella Jazz Bar on Lykourgou 7 Street, where The Winery used to be. It now hosts Nicosia’s newest music venue and, as an admirer of jazz – and of good food and drink – I was eager to visit.

I arrive early and pull the long blue curtain back to reveal a cosy, dimly-lit bar with small elegant lamps on each table and jazz posters on the walls. There are shades of red and brown around the venue and in the centre, a brightly-lit ‘Ella’ sign above the stage.

The live music begins, and because it is Thursday that means the Charis Ioannou Quartet (Charis Ioannou, Marios Spyrou, Kyriakos Kesta and Christos Yerolatsitis) is on stage playing a set of classic jazz standards and improvisations. They play every week. Friday nights are dedicated to vinyl with DJ Harrycane, a.k.a. Charis Ioannou again, sharing his vast collection and on Saturdays, the busiest night of the week, the Charlotte Storer quintet brings powerful vocals and more jazz vibes.

The music is loud, the sound is clear. Ioannou chats to his audience without needing to use a microphone, which feels refreshing, making the whole experience feel like an intimate concert in someone’s living room.

Owner Marios Polycarpou is a lover of the old town and has spent years being in the area as a former co-owner of Patio Cocktail Bar, then working at club Zoo just outside the Venetian Walls which he has turned into MAP Boutique Hotel.

His experience means he knows a thing or two about running popular venues. He is also a musician. “I wanted to open a jazz bar because I love the genre, I love the old town and after Patio, I wanted to return to these streets,” he tells me when we sit down to chat.

“Two years ago, I decided I wanted to play the saxophone and I quickly realized it is nothing like learning the guitar which I did 12 years ago. I joined a university jazz workshop led by Charis Ioannou who’s long been in the field and starting thinking about doing some more for jazz in Cyprus.

“After a lot of research, I realized jazz is like fine dining, it is for about 10 per cent of people. They go on special occasions, anniversaries, that sort of thing. Maybe, they won’t even appreciate what it is they are eating. It’s the same with jazz.”

He stuck with the saxophone, practiced daily and decided to take the next step. “The core of my business is still very much MAP. Ella is for my love for music.

“Jazz is a very democratic language. When one speaks, the others stop and listen,” Marios says. When Ella Jazz Bar opened, Marios got to play on stage during a jam session – a full circle moment.

But the bar is not just a personal project. It is a space to offer musicians a quality sound experience, a carefully decorated jazz bar reminiscent of those in New York and Chicago and another effort to give jazz the recognition and stage presence it deserves.

“I put a lot of effort into the sound,” adds Marios. “I’d take my saxophone and measure things with a sound engineer, mainly because it was a listed building with high ceilings and no insulation. The reverb was amazing. Suddenly, I found myself studying every material and how it behaved.”

Beyond the décor, sound is perhaps the most important quality of a music venue, especially in an intimate place like Ella. “Guests want to be able to talk at their table, still listen to the music clearly and without disturbing the musician on stage. That’s why we also don’t have cutlery.”

No clicking or clacking knives and forks on plates here. Ella is all about finger food, tapas-style bites that require no cutlery so the only sound you hear is the music. I did wonder when I ordered the platter. Large mouthfuls were needed to devour a beef tartare, pulled pork, salmon rillette and a truffle mushroom quiche in one though. Delicious, yet quite a mouthful.

Although those visiting soon might find different food options as Marios plans on a new menu adopting a Japanese yakitori-style fusion cuisine with American touches. With this addition, he hopes to make Ella more than a jazz destination but a cosy bar for cocktails, food and nights out in the old town.

As new venues move outside the walled city and nights start earlier, “midlife is the new nightlife,” says Marios, the old town is no longer the bustling centre it once was.

His way to encourage more people into the area is inviting an international musician to Ella Jazz bar one Friday a month. Recently, renowned Greek trumpet player Andreas Polizogopoulos performed a fully-booked show and two more iconic jazz musicians from further away will perform at Ella soon. Who they are will be announced soon on Ella’s social media.

For those who want to get on the stage as well, there is an open jam session every last Sunday of the month. As for why the name? It is an ode to a jazz legend Marios loves – Ella Fitzgerald – and a playful nod to the Greek phrase ‘ela na pame’ (‘let’s go’ in English), inviting people back into the old town.

If its new menu is as rich as the platter and cocktail I tried, and its performances as impressive as its stars, I know I’ll be back – for food, drink, music and all that jazz.

More information @ellajazzbarand 22-082082