Village Vanguard
The Village Vanguard (German Village avant-garde ) is a jazz club in the Seventh Avenue (178 Seventh Avenue South ) in New York's Greenwich Village.
History
The Village Vanguard opened its doors on February 15, 1935. Founder Max Gordon opened the club in the basement of a wedge- shaped building on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Waverly Place. He was first a stage for a variety of artists, including folk musician Pete Seeger, whose band The Weavers found their first job in the Vanguard, and the then unknown singer Harry Belafonte. In August 1949 Mary Lou Williams played there the first jazz concert; their group shared the stage with the band by JC Heard. From 1957, the Vanguard was a pure jazz club. Among the artists of the Vanguard soon included musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Art Blakey.
While the clubs of 52nd Street or the Birdland closed the gates on Broadway from the mid-1960s, the Vanguard was a well-known venue for jazz in New York. After Max Gordon died in 1989, his wife Lorraine took over the business, which leads them to this day.
Importance in the jazz scene
A special feature of the Village Vanguard is its geometry. The building, as well as the Club with its 123 seats, is wedge- shaped with the stage located in one of the corners of the room. This very special geometry makes the Vanguard one of the best places for jazz recordings, the " Carnegie Hall of jazz". The musicians appreciate the Vanguard particular the proximity to the audience. John Coltrane commented on this:
" I like the feeling of a club, Especially one with an intimate atmosphere like the Vanguard. It's important to have that real contact with audience on Because that's what we're trying to do - communicate ".
In addition, the Vanguard is always guided by the owner very restrictive as a jazz club, where the music is in the foreground. So it says on the homepage of the club
The Village Vanguard is not only opportunity to perform, it has been and will be used again for the production of live recordings. Beyond the borders of the United States known beyond the Vanguard has been through numerous live recordings by artists such as Bill Evans and John Coltrane.
Recordings from the Village Vanguard
In the jazz labels of the words " at the Village Vanguard" is now regarded as a guarantee of good sales figures. He now graces cover of several dozen photographs of all the great jazz label, starting with Blue Note on Riverside to Impulse and Verve, the total number of shots is to date about 150