First Look: This New Thornbury Jazz Bar Was Designed From a Playlist

“Music is a very abstract form of thinking,” says Tamer Taşkaya. It’s also the preferred form of communication for the Turkish-born musician, who’s been based in Australia for the last 16 years. At Jacket, the Thornbury bar he designed in collaboration with Melbourne practice Studio Heck, that belief has taken physical form.

“I said, ‘I don’t know much about design language or architecture, but I can give you a playlist,’” Taşkaya explains. That soundtrack – a custom mix he describes as “a little bit playful, a little bit moody” – was intended to inform the fit-out through rhythm, tempo and tone.

Luckily for him, designers Emily Crocker and Jack Monte, who are musicians themselves, also speak the language. They transformed the former High Street cafe into a neighbourhood jazz bar that reflects Taşkaya’s vision and his lifelong relationship with music.

“I didn’t expect that they would come up with something that close to my mind,” he says.

Wood-panelled walls and repurposed materials run throughout the handsome, kitschy space, which hosts artists across the week, from live jazz acts to soul and funk DJs, and flamenco nights featuring Senes Flamenco Trio.

The owner-operator started playing music professionally in Turkey at age 15 – both cello and bass, classical Turkish music and flamenco. Bars have been part of his life ever since; he recalls older bandmates sneaking him into venues to play when he was still underage. 

As an inner-north local who frequents kindred venues such as Open Studio and Bar Oussou, he’s long dreamt of opening a place of his own that merges his love of community and music, particularly jazz.

But it’s important to keep things approachable. Drinks include a tight range of beer and wine – mostly local, save for the Guinness – alongside cocktails using the house-made syrups and infusions that line the walls. Those include the Camorcci, with cinnamon and orange peel-infused vodka, chamomile syrup, sweet vermouth and prosecco, and the Gin Kicker, with pepper and rosemary-infused gin, Cointreau, lemon juice, sugar syrup and orange bitters.

It’s equally important to Taşkaya that the music doesn’t feel intimidating, and Jacket’s programming is intended to suit a diverse audience as well as passive listening.

“It’s not that serious, actually,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll go table by table and be like, ‘You don’t have to be quiet – it’s jazz.’”

The main bar and courtyard have undergone a full renovation, with capacity for 86 across the venue, while Copenhagen cork floors provide natural sound insulation that allows the music to carry from inside to out.

Vintage lights sourced from around Melbourne sit alongside local artworks borrowed from Artbank Melbourne, although the plan is for those to make way for local artist residencies. The walls also feature subtle chevron detailing that mirrors a jacket zipper – a nod to the venue’s name.

That detail was inspired by the Turkish song Ahmet Bey’in Ceketi, which translates to Mr Ahmet’s Jacket, and a coincidental suggestion from a friend. “I probably hadn’t listened to that song in nearly 10 years,” Taşkaya says. “One morning, I randomly played it for no particular reason, and on the very same day, my friend Batur suggested the name Jacket for the venue. It was a strange little coincidence that stuck with me.” 

Like the venue itself, he says, “ it’s not really imposing any meanings or any kind of identity. A jacket is very neutral. Everyone has their own jacket.”

Jacket
719 High Street, Thornbury
0421 753 154

Hours:
Wed 5pm–1am
Thu 5pm–1am
Fri to Sun 3pm–1am

jacketbar.com.au
@jacket.bar