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Summary:

"Hands down, the premiere jazz club in the world rests at Seventh Avenue South in New York. Countless great shows have been played at the Village Vanguard over its long history. It opened as a comedy / variety / folk club in 1935 but in 1957 primarily changed its sole focus onto jazz. It welcomed in the greats ranging from Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk to Bill Evans and Carmen McRae. With its jazz-only programming, countless classic jazz albums have been recorded there-even to this day. So, it made total sense to have the Vanguard be the setting for a series of live TV performances in the early '80s produced by keyboardist Ben Sidran. The Jazz Life opens with images of the city (including sadly the twin towers that were brought down by terrorists twenty years later) and includes the outside of the basement club. Featured in this 1982 video is the legendary hard-bebop drummer Art Blakey joyfully leading the latest iteration of his exalted band Jazz Messengers that he founded in 1955. What an impressive lineup of the emerging stars of the future: trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (who served as Art's musical director), his brother Branford Marsalis on alto saxophone, tenor saxophonist Billy Pierce, pianist Donald Brown and bassist Charles Fambrough. Wynton was especially impressive as a lyrical ballad player as well as an improviser with surprising twists in his horn playing. At the end of the set, the smiling Blakey got in front of the stage, introduced the band and preached to the crowd to go out to buy a record once a week as "a good investment." Blakey's set lasted about a half hour and is followed by another half hour at the Vanguard starring monster tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin and his quartet. They open their 1981 show with the rambunctious tune "Blues for Gonzi" with Griffin leading the charge with an extended hard-blowing, shredding tenor solo that charged the Vanguard crowd to go crazy in applause. Griffith's bandmates-Ronnie Matthews on piano, Ray Drummond on bass and Kenny Washington on drums-take the song into overdrive. Just another day at the heralded Village Vanguard. Dan Ouellette".

Contributors:

Drummond, Ray , instrumentalist

Dorfman, Stanley , director

Blakey, Art, 1919-1990 , instrumentalist

Marsalis, Wynton, 1961- , instrumentalist

Pierce, Billy, 1927-2015 , instrumentalist

Brown, Donald , instrumentalist

Griffin, Johnny, 1928-2008 , instrumentalist

Matthews, Ronnie , instrumentalist

Washington, Kenny , instrumentalist

Marsalis, Branford , instrumentalist

Fambrough, Charles , instrumentalist

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Subjects:

Jazz

Jazz musicians

Genres:

Online media

Internet videos

Concert films

General Notes:

Streaming media.
Restricted to the University of North Texas System.
Title from video title screen (viewed May 19, 2023).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 video file (23 min)) : sound, color

Audio Characteristics:

digital

Digital Characteristics:

video file

Call Numbers:

Online Video

OCLC Numbers:

1399441251

Other Control Numbers:

[Unknown Type]: QwestTV2514