Lorraine Gordon interview

[Hardbopjazz]

For 77 years, the biggest names in jazz have flocked to a basement in New York City's Greenwich Village. The Village Vanguard, founded in 1935 by Max Gordon, has been the setting for seminal recordings by artists such as Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Wynton Marsalis. When Gordon died, in 1989, his wife, Lorraine, took over the intimate, 123-seat venue. Now 89, she has maintained the Vanguard's status as the most renowned stage in jazz. She told her story to April Joyner.

Article

[Dan Gould]

Thanks for the link Tom.

[fasstrack]

For 77 years, the biggest names in jazz have flocked to a basement in New York City's Greenwich Village. The Village Vanguard, founded in 1935 by Max Gordon, has been the setting for seminal recordings by artists such as Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Wynton Marsalis. When Gordon died, in 1989, his wife, Lorraine, took over the intimate, 123-seat venue. Now 89, she has maintained the Vanguard's status as the most renowned stage in jazz. She told her story to April Joyner.

Article

Don't be fooled. She turns on the charm in interviews but treats customers and others like crap. I won't even go into the politics involved in getting a gig at the Vanguard. I haven't experience in the latter. As far as the former, she was such a rude creep to me the last time I went and paid to hear one of the few people worth hearing anymore at the Vanguard that I haven't been back (except to give music to a member of the Vanguard Orchestra) and don't intend to---until she's gone. Maybe I can slip in Monday to hear the band---the night she's off. It's fine with me anyway b/c almost no one performing there these days interests me to spend money to hear that much. The late Max Gordon was a class act and presided over a great club. Alcoholic and nasty Lorraine did the same thing to the Vanguard that Bradley Cunningham's widow Wendy did to Bradley's: run it into the ground.

But I have great memories of the Max Gordon-era Vanguard.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

"We are totally devoted to the music. We don't talk about commercial things like marketing. I don't care if we're not busy one night or if we lose a dollar or so. We offer a pure experience listening to jazz. If you have the right music, and you're nice to the people, and the people enjoy the club, then that generates its own good feelings."

Ha ha! Lorraine nice? Not to most of the people I know. One prominent Jazz figure has told me he'll go back into the Village Vanuard "when the bitch dies".

[fasstrack]

"We are totally devoted to the music. We don't talk about commercial things like marketing. I don't care if we're not busy one night or if we lose a dollar or so. We offer a pure experience listening to jazz. If you have the right music, and you're nice to the people, and the people enjoy the club, then that generates its own good feelings."

Ha ha! Lorraine nice? Not to most of the people I know. One prominent Jazz figure has told me he'll go back into the Village Vanuard "when the bitch dies".

Damn! And I thought it was just me. Why, you, you neurosis killer!

[Chuck Nessa]

Hey, the club is still there and I have never had a problem with her.

Few of the really important/good folks are warm and fuzzy.

[fasstrack]

Hey, the club is still there and I have never had a problem with her.

Few of the really important/good folks are warm and fuzzy.

Bach was a family man. Alright, I'll give you Wagner, but still....

Regarding mortals The people at Fat Cat are practically saints and are doing more for talented but lesser-known musicians than anyone else in NY except maybe Smalls. In your neck of the woods the only people I know are Lazaro Vega and Tim Scully and I have nothing but admiration for both. Lorraine is a creep who inherited a great club through marriage and ran it into the ground. Her importance is completely to herself.

Edited February 7, 2012 by fasstrack

[Chuck Nessa]

Hey, the club is still there and I have never had a problem with her.

Few of the really important/good folks are warm and fuzzy.

Bach was a family man. Regarding mortals The people at Fat Cat are practically saints and are doing more for talented but lesser-known musicians for anyone else in NY except maybe Smalls. In your neck of the woods the only people I know are Lazaro Vega and Tim Scully and I have nothing but admiration for both. Lorraine is a creep who inherited a great club through marriage and ran it into the ground. Her importance is completely to herself.

WTF does that have to do with where I live. If you are hinting I'm in the hinterlands, I was in the Vanguard a couple of weeks ago to hear the big band.

FWIW, met Max back in the day and spent a delightful afternoon in a bar with Lorraine in the early '80s.

[fasstrack]

Hey, the club is still there and I have never had a problem with her.

Few of the really important/good folks are warm and fuzzy.

Bach was a family man. Regarding mortals The people at Fat Cat are practically saints and are doing more for talented but lesser-known musicians for anyone else in NY except maybe Smalls. In your neck of the woods the only people I know are Lazaro Vega and Tim Scully and I have nothing but admiration for both. Lorraine is a creep who inherited a great club through marriage and ran it into the ground. Her importance is completely to herself.

WTF does that have to do with where I live. If you are hinting I'm in the hinterlands, I was in the Vanguard a couple of weeks ago to hear the big band.

FWIW, met Max back in the day and spent a delightful afternoon in a bar with Lorraine in the early '80s.

I'm not hinting that at all. You're hinting that.

If your experience with her was different, good for you. I'm just telling mine.

[Hardbopjazz]

Once in 2010 she told Lee Konitz to get back up on stage because he owed her 10 minutes. If he didn't she said "I ain't paying you." I don't know if she wouldn't have pay Lee, but Lee and his band did go back up on stage and thhe played. He closed with "Sweet Lorraine," much to the audiences pleasure. She didn't even acknowledge his tribute to her, albeit in a cynical way.

She even once yelled at me for standing outside the club at 7:15. "The door don't open to 8. Go for a walk and don't loiter." If it wasn't for Cecil Taylor playing there, I would have just left and gone home.

[ValerieB]

For 77 years, the biggest names in jazz have flocked to a basement in New York City's Greenwich Village. The Village Vanguard, founded in 1935 by Max Gordon, has been the setting for seminal recordings by artists such as Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Wynton Marsalis. When Gordon died, in 1989, his wife, Lorraine, took over the intimate, 123-seat venue. Now 89, she has maintained the Vanguard's status as the most renowned stage in jazz. She told her story to April Joyner.

Article

Don't be fooled. She turns on the charm in interviews but treats customers and others like crap. I won't even go into the politics involved in getting a gig at the Vanguard. I haven't experience in the latter. As far as the former, she was such a rude creep to me the last time I went and paid to hear one of the few people worth hearing anymore at the Vanguard that I haven't been back (except to give music to a member of the Vanguard Orchestra) and don't intend to---until she's gone. Maybe I can slip in Monday to hear the band---the night she's off. It's fine with me anyway b/c almost no one performing there these days interests me to spend money to hear that much. The late Max Gordon was a class act and presided over a great club. Alcoholic and nasty Lorraine did the same thing to the Vanguard that Bradley Cunningham's widow Wendy did to Bradley's: run it into the ground.

But I have great memories of the Max Gordon-era Vanguard.

i agree that Lorraine certainly can be moody and testy at times. but she's done a phenomenal job keeping the club going. "run it into the ground"?!? are you kidding, or what? and did you notice how old she is. give me a break. luckily she can do without your support.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

i agree that Lorraine certainly can be moody and testy at times. but she's done a phenomenal job keeping the club going. "run it into the ground"?!? are you kidding, or what? and did you notice how old she is. give me a break. luckily she can do without your support.

Val, I agree with you that she has done a fine job keeping the place afloat when most Jazz clubs have folded.

However, even you must have gotten a chuckle out of her "nice to the people" comment. I have heard from many "people" who have been treated anything but nice by Lorraine at the Vanguard.

[AllenLowe]

her two great loves: Jabbo Smith and Monk.

[Justin V]

Four years ago, during my only trip to New York, I made sure to go to the Vanguard. We saw Tom Harrell, whose music I wasn't very familiar with at the time. It was one of the best concerts I've attended. It was special to be sitting right behind the pianist, Danny Grissett, in a club where so much jazz history has occurred. Heck, I even liked the Chinese restaurant across the street.

I could deal with her being crabby given the quality of music there, but I didn't see her display any rude behavior. In any event, I'd rather deal with a grouchy owner than the loud groups shouting over the music like I do here.

[ValerieB]

i agree that Lorraine certainly can be moody and testy at times. but she's done a phenomenal job keeping the club going. "run it into the ground"?!? are you kidding, or what? and did you notice how old she is. give me a break. luckily she can do without your support.

Val, I agree with you that she has done a fine job keeping the place afloat when most Jazz clubs have folded.

However, even you must have gotten a chuckle out of her "nice to the people" comment. I have heard from many "people" who have been treated anything but nice by Lorraine at the Vanguard.

definitely gave me a chuckle! but, even so, all my hats are off to her. can't imagine what she's had to put up with over the decades as well! in case you haven't noticed: customers and musicians are certainly capable of being moody and testy, especially when drinking!

[fasstrack]

..... can't imagine what she's had to put up with over the decades as well! in case you haven't noticed: customers and musicians are certainly capable of being moody and testy, especially when drinking!

She's such a peach and so devoted to her customers she keeps two tables off-limits: one to sit at, the other (adjacent) so her royal view isn't blocked.

And it's old news to anyone on the jazz scene in NY that she can drink most customers under the table.

Believe what y'all want. That's it from me here. Like Mammy Yokum 'I has spoken'.....

Edited February 7, 2012 by fasstrack

[AllenLowe]

well, years ago here I told a story about her that I should not have - but let us say she has some interesting associations (courtesy of Curley Russell).

[ValerieB]

..... can't imagine what she's had to put up with over the decades as well! in case you haven't noticed: customers and musicians are certainly capable of being moody and testy, especially when drinking!

She's such a peach and so devoted to her customers she keeps two tables off-limits: one to sit at, the other (adjacent) so her royal view isn't blocked.

And it's old news to anyone on the jazz scene in NY that she can drink most customers under the table.

Believe what y'all want. That's it from me here. Like Mammy Yokum 'I has spoken'.....

oh, dear, what sinful, horrible things you're accusing her of!! LOL!! in her own club, she saves a seat for herself and possibly one for a guest or someone to join her?!? what nerve! and at her age, i would think that the drinks might be her saving grace with all the responsibility she has. more power to her. i'd love to join her in a martini! and you have your very own axe to grind, fasstrack, that's obvious.

[fasstrack]

..... can't imagine what she's had to put up with over the decades as well! in case you haven't noticed: customers and musicians are certainly capable of being moody and testy, especially when drinking!

She's such a peach and so devoted to her customers she keeps two tables off-limits: one to sit at, the other (adjacent) so her royal view isn't blocked.

And it's old news to anyone on the jazz scene in NY that she can drink most customers under the table.

Believe what y'all want. That's it from me here. Like Mammy Yokum 'I has spoken'.....

oh, dear, what sinful, horrible things you're accusing her of!! LOL!! in her own club, she saves a seat for herself and possibly one for a guest or someone to join her?!? what nerve! and at her age, i would think that the drinks might be her saving grace with all the responsibility she has. more power to her. i'd love to join her in a martini! and you have your very own axe to grind, fasstrack, that's obvious.

Not really. I don't care too much one way or the other about Lorraine or the Vanguard. But reading that disingenuous tripe just brought back the memory. I'm far from the only person feeling like this and I don't want to beat it into the ground. So salud!

[ValerieB]

..... can't imagine what she's had to put up with over the decades as well! in case you haven't noticed: customers and musicians are certainly capable of being moody and testy, especially when drinking!

She's such a peach and so devoted to her customers she keeps two tables off-limits: one to sit at, the other (adjacent) so her royal view isn't blocked.

And it's old news to anyone on the jazz scene in NY that she can drink most customers under the table.

Believe what y'all want. That's it from me here. Like Mammy Yokum 'I has spoken'.....

oh, dear, what sinful, horrible things you're accusing her of!! LOL!! in her own club, she saves a seat for herself and possibly one for a guest or someone to join her?!? what nerve! and at her age, i would think that the drinks might be her saving grace with all the responsibility she has. more power to her. i'd love to join her in a martini! and you have your very own axe to grind, fasstrack, that's obvious.

Not really. I don't care too much one way or the other about Lorraine or the Vanguard. But reading that disingenuous tripe just brought back the memory. I'm far from the only person feeling like this and I don't want to beat it into the ground. So salud!

i agree with you and will make this my last post on the subject: if she were an out-and-out bitch, i would still be enormously grateful to her for preserving one of the best and oldest jazz clubs in the world!!

[JSngry]

Kind of a mini-Lorraine Gordon publicity thing the last month or so (remember that side of the wall thing, or whatever it was). Don't think these type things happen "spontaneously". Any idea what's up?

Nothing wrong with it, not at all, just wondering if somebody needs money, or is laying the groundwork for something or what.

[mjzee]

Lorraine's Pepsi-Cola Club?

[jlhoots]

If / when I make it to 89, I'm getting cranky too.

[ValerieB]

If / when I make it to 89, I'm getting cranky too.

and can you imagine running a club like the VV when you're that age?!? i absolutely cannot!

[Brad]

If / when I make it to 89, I'm getting cranky too.

I'm cranky already