Alive At The Village Vanguard

Jazz fans get the inside story of New York's legendary club. At age 83 Lorraine Gordon is a jazz icon who has lived more than a few lives: downtown bohemian uptown grande dame music business pioneer wife lover mother and finally at a point when m

Since 1934, the Village Vanguard in New York's Greenwich Village has hosted the foremost in live jazz, folk music, and comedy. Its owner, Max Gordon, has now written a personal history of his club and the hundreds of entertainment legends who have played there. Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Woodie Guthrie, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Josh White, Pete Seeger-Max has stories about all of them. And what stories! As Nat Hentoff says in his introduction, "A good many so-called professional writers have not done nearly so well."

The jazz singer narrates the details of her career, describing her meetings with various celebrities in the music, entertainment, theater, and political world while she performed at the famous club in Greenwich Village.

The social connotation of jazz in American popular culture has shifted dramatically since its emergence in the early twentieth century. Once considered youthful and even rebellious, jazz music is now a firmly established American artistic tradition. As jazz in American life has shifted, so too has the kind of venue in which it is performed. In Jazz Places, Kimberly Hannon Teal traces the history of jazz performance from private jazz clubs to public, high-art venues often associated with charitable institutions. As live jazz performance has become more closely tied to nonprofit institutions, the music's heritage has become increasingly important, serving as a means of defining jazz as a social good worthy of charitable support. Though different jazz spaces present jazz and its heritage in various and sometimes conflicting terms, ties between the music and the past play an important role in defining the value of present-day music in a diverse range of jazz venues, from the Village Vanguard in New York to SFJazz on the West Coast to Preservation Hall in New Orleans.

A look at the towering twentieth-century leader and his lifestyle that goes beyond the political and into the personal. Countless books have examined the public accomplishments of the man who led Britain in a desperate fight against the Nazis with a ferocity and focus that earned him the nickname “the British Bulldog.” Churchill Style takes a different kind of look at this historic icon—delving into the way he lived and the things he loved, from books to automobiles, as well as how he dressed, dined, and drank in his daily life. With numerous photographs, this unique volume explores Churchill’s interests, hobbies, and vices—from his maddening oversight of the renovation of his country house, Chartwell, and the unusual styles of clothing he preferred, to the seemingly endless flow of cognac and champagne he demanded and his ability to enjoy any cigar, from the cheapest stogies to the most pristine Cubans. Churchill always knew how to live well, truly combining substance with style, and now you can get to know the man behind the legend—from the top of his Homburg hat to the bottom of his velvet slippers. “All readers will appreciate Singer’s highly intelligent observations about how Churchill’s style contributed to, and was ultimately an integral part of his brilliant career.” —Gentleman’s Gazette

The first full biography of Thelonious Monk, written by a brilliant historian, with full access to the family's archives and with dozens of interviews.

John Coltrane left an indelible mark on the world, but what was the essence of his achievement that makes him so prized forty years after his death? What were the factors that helped Coltrane become who he was? And what would a John Coltrane look like now--or are we looking for the wrong signs? In this deftly written, riveting study, New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff answers these questions and examines the life of Coltrane, the acclaimed band leader and deeply spiritual man who changed the face of jazz music. Ratliff places jazz among other art forms and within the turbulence of American social history, and he places Coltrane not just among jazz musicians but among the greatest American artists.