Jazz Club Profile: The Village Vanguard

Of all the famous jazz clubs in New York, the Village Vanguard, a small basement room with an odd geometric configuration, is perhaps resonating with the most mystique. Located in Manhattan’s West Village, the Vanguard has been the heart of New York’s jazz scene since 1935.

In it’s early days, the Village Vanguard was in tune with it’s beatnik surroundings, and it’s jazz programming was just a fraction of what it offered. More frequently, it featured poetry readings, comedy, cabaret shows, and folk music performed by the likes of Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, and Harry Belafonte. But in 1957, owner Max Gordon issued a policy of all-jazz programming.

The club is celebrated for it's crystal clear acoustics, and the for fact that it breathes history from it's walls covered in photos of jazz legends who have played there, to the hole in the ceiling supposedly contributed by the combustible bassist Charles Mingus. The list of musicians who have played there is practically identical to the list of jazz greats who have ever existed, including Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and many, many more.

Starting in 1966 the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra held a Monday night residency at the club, and these days the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra carries on the tradition. Tuesdays through Sundays are designated for the featured group of the week. Over the years, some of the most famous live recordings in jazz have been recorded at the Vanguard including:

• Bill Evans Trio's Sunday at the Village Vanguard
• John Coltrane's Live at the Village Vanguard
• Sonny Rollins' A Night at the Village Vanguard

Artists such as Kurt Rosenwinkel and Martial Solal continue to document their concerts there. They released The Remedy: Live at the Village Vanguard, and Live at the Village Vanguard, respectively, within the last few years. Currently, Newark radio station WBGO, in partnership with National Public Radio, record Village Vanguard performances and stream them live for online listeners.

Max Gordon died in 1989, and since then his wife Lorraine, now 87, has been in charge. Lorraine is famous for her dry humor and brusque demeanor, and her presence is crucial in helping to preserve the devotional atmosphere of the club. If you talk too loudly, or take a picture with a flash, she will yell at you.

After 75 years, the Village Vanguard is still the touchstone on which recognition as a true force in the mainstream jazz world is based.