AUBURN - Downtown Auburn is normally pretty quiet on any given Sunday afternoon.

But Anthony Pacini, owner of Swaby's, is looking to change that by bringing in the smooth sounds of jazz.

Sunday marked the kickoff of Swaby's live jazz on Sundays series with Lou Nocilly & Jazzitude bringing their laid back cool jazz styling to Swaby's stage.

“It is sort of a kickoff to summer,” Pacini said. “We wanted to do something here that would tie in with the food and the atmosphere that we have here.”

Pacini said that long before he owned Swaby's, he had been a patron of the bar and was always struck by how much the building had to offer.

With walls emblazoned with old photographs, stuffed gorillas, alligators and other one-of-a-kind memorabilia, Swaby's has a unique atmostphere.

When Pacini opened the restaurant in December, he wanted to bring a whole new spin to the former cigar bar.

“Originally, I wanted to make it a piano bar,” Pacini said. “But we've kind of changed that idea. I've always liked jazz, all kinds of jazz across the board. This is a unique place. Let's face it, you aren't going to find any place like this pretty much anywhere in the world. It can't be replicated. So I wanted to do something unique to fit in with what we are doing here with the food and the atmosphere.”

Aside from being a form of music that Pacini particularly enjoys, he believes that it has the ability to reach a good cross section of customers.

“We're looking for everybody,” Pacini said. “With this we can get a middle-aged crowd and we can also get a little younger crowd too. With jazz you can get a little bit of everything.”

Pacini has worked in conjunction with local music promoter Art Wenzel to come up with a series of acts for the next several weeks as a trial run to see how his idea for jazz on Sundays is received.

“We have the next four weeks planned out,” Pacini said. “Art knows what he is doing and what I am looking for with the bands. The next few weeks are sort of a test run to see how it is received. Downtown Auburn on a Sunday, there isn't too much going on, I hope this is well received and that this helps change that and helps pick things up a little bit.”

As Lou Nocilly and Jazzitude struck up, a steady stream of people began to make their way into Swaby's.

Pacini said in just the first week, he's already noticed an increase in the number of people coming in. His idea drew a little bit of everything, from jazz fans, to people just looking to get out and enjoy the afternoon.

“I think this is a great idea,” Marc Storrs said. “I like a lot of different kinds of music and jazz is definitely right up there. This is definitely a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.”

Coming up

The Swaby's jazz series will continue April 27 with international jazz artists The Nancy Kelly Jazz Trio beginning at 4 p.m. and going until 7, admission is free.