#max gordon

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Today in New York: the Village Vanguard

The Village has been the birthplace of many renowned jazz artists, and it continues to be a destination of choice for those seeking to experience great jazz music.The Village Vanguard is one of the most renowned and oldest jazz clubs in the city, offering exceptional live music in a intimate atmosphere since 1935.

History that you can beat around the ears of the bartender, maybe not. Better to just order a good whisky .

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The Village Vanguard opened its doors on 22 February 1935. Founder Max Gordon opened the club in the basement of a wedge-shaped building on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Waverly Place. It initially provided a stage for a wide range of artists, including folk musician Pete Seeger, whose band The Weavers were the Vanguard's first employees, and the then-unknown singer Harry Belafonte. In August 1949, Mary Lou Williams played the first jazz concert there; her group shared the stage with J. C. Heard's band. From 1957, the Vanguard became a pure jazz club. The Vanguard's artists soon included musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Art Blakey.

While the clubs on 52nd Street and Birdland on Broadway closed their doors from the mid-1960s onwards, the Vanguard remained a well-known jazz venue in New York. After Max Gordon's death in 1989, his wife Lorraine took over the business and ran it until her death in June 2018. Since then, her daughter Deborah has taken over the club.

Wikipedia more or less

More not needed insider knowledge:

Recordings from the Village Vanguard

For jazz labels, the words ‘at the Village Vanguard’ are now a guarantee of good sales. They now adorn several dozen covers of recordings by all the major jazz labels, from Blue Note and Riverside to Impulse and Verve, with a total of around 150 recordings to date.

Maxine Sullivan at the Village Vanguard (1947)

Dexter Gordon and Benny Bailey at the Village Vanguard (1977)

1957: Night at the Village Vanguard (Sonny Rollins, Blue Note)

1961: Waltz for Debby and Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Bill Evans, Riverside)

1961: Coltrane ‘Live’ at the Village Vanguard (John Coltrane, Impulse!)

1962: The Cannonball Adderley Sextett in New York, featuring Nat Adderley and Yusef Lateef Recorded ‘Live’ at the Village Vanguard (Riverside)

1963: Impressions (John Coltrane, Impulse!)

1966: All My Yesterdays: The Debut 1966 Recordings at the Village Vanguard (Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Resonance, 2016)

1967: Live at the Village Vanguard Again! (John Coltrane, Impulse!)

1970: Betty Carter at the Village Vanguard (Betty Carter, Verve)

1976: Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard (Dexter Gordon, Sony)

1979: Nude Ants (Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson, Jon Christensen, ECM 1986)

1980: Turn out the Stars (Bill Evans, Nonesuch)

1984: Live at the Village Vanguard (Michel Petrucciani, Blue Note)

1988: Just Friends: Live at the Village Vanguard (Eddie Daniels/Roger Kellaway, Resonance, 2017)

1999: Live at the Village Vanguard (Wynton Marsalis, Sony)

2006: Live – At the Village Vanguard (Brad Mehldau, Nonesuch)

2007: Live at the Village Vanguard (Bill Charlap, Blue Note)

Marie Fonte in the ‘La Balance de Levite/Levitating Scales’ section of Minuit, Compagnie Yoann Bourgeois, October 2016. © Max Gordon.

The Village Vanguard: New York's Bright Red Shrine To Jazz

Dan Fisher has developed an excellent essay touching on the essence of the Village Vanguard through the decades. For me, it was a home away from home, often sleeping on the benches along the back wall, waiting for Godot. I even got married there once as did Michel Petrucciani. Max Gordon was a warm and loving man and his daughter Deborah has picked up where he left off.

-Michael Cuscuna

Happy birthday to the British artist Howard Hodgkin. Hodgkin, who passed away this March 2017, was renowned for his colorful and expressive use of paint. In this painting, Hodgkin memorialized his friend, the architect Max Gordon, with bright, broad bands of blue that extend over the frame and convey the artist’s memories and feelings of loss.