Village Vanguard Recordings

Searched but couldn't find a thread devoted to recordings from the Village Vanguard. Which ones are essential? What are your favorites? Were you in the audience for any?

 

The Bill Evans Trio 1961 recordings are essential and collected into a 3CD box.

I was there for these recordings. I believe the version of 'Moon River' was from my show because Brad said that every night the pedals were squeaking during the quietest part of the song but 'tonight I think we got it.'

 

Listening to Bill Evans "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" now. How come he's in the right channel? Is that where the piano was in those days?

 

The Harper Brother's live recorded in 1990. I was there and it was a great performance.

My two favorites are Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane at the Vanguard, they are on a whole different plane. Unfortunately I wasn't there for those recordings.

Almost forgot the sublime Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard.

 

The Coltrane 4CD box is amazing. I went to a daytime release party for it and saw McCoy Tyner with a while host of guest musicians including Pat Metheny and Christian McBride. Later that week Tyner recorded this. I can't recall if I went or not.

 

Shirley Horn's Embers & Ashes, while not absolutely essential, is worth hearing. It was the album Miles Davis heard that turned her onto him. He called her the best vocalist he ever heard.

 

Harper Brothers were the first act I ever saw at the Vanguard. Streaming their live album now.

 

Is that live? I see she has a DVD recorded at the Vanguard. Any other Vanguard videos?

 

Oh, wait. My bad. I was thinking of a different album.

So, there IS an album Shirley Horn "Live" At The Village Vanguard. But it turns out it wasn't actually recorded there. D'OH! It was recorded at a place in St. Louis, but it's still live, and representative of her live work back then. It was at the Village Vanguard where Miles Davis first heard her.



So I have this on vinyl. It's expensive right now. $100 at Audiophile USA. Even at Discogs, the lowest price is $85. Horn, Shirley - Live At The Village Vanguard

The DVD is later (from the '90s), but it is from the Village Vanguard.

 

John Coltrane's first live album is a must have for every jazz fan.
There are several versions/editions out there.

This is the original 1961 release:



But better get the Master Takes edition which contains the original album but also two more cuts that were released originally on the Impressions studio/live album:

 

This one is great as well:

 

If you go to discogs.com and do a search for "Village Vanguard" you'll find some.

 

No matter. Streaming "Embers and Ashes " now and it is fantastic! Thanks.

 

She was amazing. One of my favorite vocalists and pianists. And you can hear why Miles appreciated her so much. She packed so much into her sparse phrasing. She was a vocalist version of Miles in a way.

 

Two of my favorites from the VV from Keith Jarrett:

 

Some of my favorites, old classics and more recent ones:

Coltrane '61 recordings
Bill Evans - Sunday at the Vanguard; Waltz for Debbie
Sonny Rollins - A Night at the Village Vanguard
Josh Redman - Spirit of the Moment
Fred Hersch Trio - Live at the Village Vanguard; Sunday Night at the Vanguard
Joe Lovano - Quartets
Jason Moran - The Bandwagon: Live at the Village Vanguard (great album but maybe the worst sounding "at the Vanguard" recording ever)
Paul Motian, Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell - At the Village Vanugard; Sound of Love

 

Thanks. The Vanguard website says over 100 albums were recorded there. Any other clubs can compete with that?

 

Paul Motian has many fine albums recorded at the Village Vanguard. That goes back to the Bill Evans Trio, but he has recorded as a leader in various groups.

My favorite would be his Trio recording with Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell.

 

I'm going to have to check this out. Thanks.

 

Another artist with a series of excellent VV Recordings is Brad Mehldau.

 

Yeah, that whole series is excellent and this one in particular is great.

 

John Coltrane's Live At The Village Vanguard/The Master Takes was my point-0f-entry into jazz, and is certainly at the top of my "desert island" list. One of my favorite discs ever of any genre. The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings, from which Live At The Village Vanguard and Master Takes were extracted, is in my opinion some of the greatest live music recorded. This is coming from someone whose musical tastes run the gamut, but if I could go back in time and experience one run of shows of any artist, it would be November 1-5, 1961 at the Village Vanguard.

 

Art Pepper - the Complete Village Vanguard Recordings
9CDs containing each and every set, every introduction, every tune played at the Vanguard on July 28, 29, & 30th

Art Pepper, George "Mr. Beautiful" Cables, George Mraz, & Elvin Jones

 

My favourite ones are John Coltrane and Bill Evans recordings from 1961.

The great ones which have not been mentioned yet include:

• Gerry Mulligan - (Concert Jazz Band) At the Village Vanguard '60
• Elvin Jones - Live at the Village Vanguard '68
  
• Joe Henderson - Live at the Village Vanguard '85

Last but not least, let's not forget about some smoking guitar vanguard stuff:

• Kenny Burrell - A Night at the Vanguard '59
• Charlie Byrd - At the Village Vanguard '61
• Chris Potter Underground - Follow the Red Line '07
• Marc Ribot - Live at the Village Vanguard '12

 

Bill Frisell, East/West, the Vanguard part being the Eastern half.