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Placed at New York City's Seventh at Avenue South, the Village Vanguard is one of the truly legendary venues in jazz, a name that ranks along the fabled Birdland, Lighthouse, bohemia, Basin Street, Blackhawk, and Blue Note of yesterday and today. Since the Vanguard first opened its doors in 1935, the list of jazz greats who have appeared on its stage at one time or another reads like a who's who in the field: John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Stan Getz... Located right next to the Vanguard, the Seventh at Avenue was a club owned by the brothers Randy and Michael Brecker which played a very important role in the jazz scene of the late Seventies- early Eighties.
This video - the first in a series of two - gathers two appearances at those celebrated clubs from the Big Apple. Recorded at the Seventh at Avenue in 1982, the first of them showcases Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, at a time when the veteran Blakey, one of the greatest and most influential drummers in jazz, was fronting a particularly appealing Messengers lineup featuring the brothers Wynton and Branford Marsalis in peak artistic form. The second date, recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1982, presents the group headed by alto saxophonist Richie Cole, a performer initially influenced by Charlie Parker and Phil Woods who made enormous impact throughout the Seventies with his peculiar, often humorous brand of Bop. Backed by a dependable rhythm section featuring Filipino pianist Bobby Enriquez, Cole displays his alto pyrotechnics to effect in this exciting gig. Club jazz galore!
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