For years, guitarist Marty Liquori and his Hot Club de Ville music group had a twice-weekly gig to play gypsy jazz at Leonardo’s 706 Restaurant on University Avenue. A night of music, combined with the delights of Leonardo’s kitchen, was a favorite for jazz enthusiasts.

But then along came COVID-19, and the owners of Leonardo’s 706 decided it was time to retire. They shuttered the doors on the restaurant and Liquori’s regular gig there.

Liquori played there twice a week for 17 years.

“I never played anywhere else when I played at Leonardo’s. I started there and didn’t look for more gigs because I was already busy,” he said.

Liquori is known for more than his music. He was a world-class distance runner, a five-time NCAA champion, and represented the U.S. in the 1968 Summer Olympics. Last year, he was inducted into the Collegiate Track & Field and Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame.

 In fact, it was my son, a former college runner more enamored of Liquori’s athletic achievements than his music, who first introduced me to his gypsy jazz. Like everyone else at Liquori’s recent October gig, I was thrilled to have a chance to listen to him again.

“People would come up to me all the time, about how much they miss the jazz at Leonardo’s and how much they miss the food. And I always said someday we’re going to do something,” Liquori said.

Then that long-awaited “someday” finally came with a trip down memory lane at Sweetwater Branch Inn for treats from the old Leonardo’s 706 menu and music by Marty and his Hot Club de Ville in an event they called “Jazz in the Garden: A Taste of 706.”

The person who made it happen is Sweetwater’s catering and events director, Chynna Masteller, who used to work in the kitchen at Leonardo’s 706.

“I kept cooking for holiday parties and events for people who really missed the 706 foods — I missed them too,” Masteller said. “So, when Cornelia (Holbrook, Sweetwater’s owner) allowed me the opportunity at Sweetwater to do something a little outside the box from what we normally do, my mind immediately went to Danny (Michael)  and Marty to bring back a 706 night.”

Michael, now the chef at Public & General, who occasionally works at Sweetwater “just because he loves us,” did the cooking at Leonardo’s 706 when Marty played there.

 “It just made sense — Sweetwater is a true gem that holds a piece of Gainesville’s heritage, and  706 had a culinary rhythm and creativity that I just don’t see around here anymore. Bringing those two together felt like the perfect fit,” Masteller said.

The perfect fit came together on a perfect October night, and the weather could not have been better. Small tables were set up outdoors in the gardens, and Marty and his Hot Club de Ville performed from a small stage.

Waiters ferried small plates of old Leonardo favorites, like Caesar Salad, a shitake mushroom appetizer, gorgonzola walnut chicken pasta, wild mushroom ravioli, and a peanut butter pie dessert.

Liquori took the name Hot Club de Ville because he follows the style of Django Reinhardt, a Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist who played in France in the mid-20^th century.

“It was a kind of French music, and they were called the Hot Club de France. So, people all over the world who play this style of music call themselves the Hot Club, like the Hot Club of San Francisco. We are de Ville for Gainesville,” Liquori said.

Playing with Liquori this time around were accordionist Damiano Angoli, guitarist Rick Spence of St. Augustine, and bass player Gary Christensen from the Ocala area.

Patsy Murray was a regular back in the day.

“I would always go for gypsy jazz night. When I heard about this, I knew I had to be here. This is an elegant place and I’m having a wonderful time,” she said. 

Julie Warmke-Robitaille and her husband, Steve Robitaille, also showed up frequently for gypsy jazz at Leonardo’s 706.

“We absolutely had to be here. We love Marty Liquori and gypsy jazz,” she said.

Her husband agreed.

“We went many, many times and lamented the fact that the era came to an end,” Steve Robitaille said. “We hope it will happen again and again. It’s so unique to hear this kind of music,” he said.

And if Masteller has anything to say about it, it will. “I would love to see this become a quarterly event, if not more often,” she said.