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29-640: Thad Jones ' composition "5021" refers to the Blue Bird's address and Tommy Flanagan placed tribute to the venue in the title track to an album with Kenny Burrell titled Beyond the Blue Bird (1990). The venue had featured live music since the 1930s, but in 1948 Phil Hill was hired to assemble a house band that could play bebop. Hill's first trio there comprised Abe Woodly on vibraphone and Art Mardigian on drums, with Hill on piano. The following year, Hill and Mardigan were joined by Wardell Gray , James "Beans" Richardson on bass and Jack Tiant on bongos, and, as

58-525: A club of international renown. On 3 November 1957, during some of the first recording sessions at the club, Sonny Rollins , a tenor sax player, recorded three LPs. These recordings were at the forefront of the hard-bop movement. The LPs documented two different saxophone-bass-drums trios. Rollins had shown an interest in smaller ensembles as early as 1955; in Paradox , he exchanged four-measure phrases with drummer Max Roach , with no other instrument taking part. In

87-699: A member of the Count Basie Orchestra in May 1954. He was featured as a soloist on such well-known tunes as " April in Paris ", "Shiny Stockings", and "Corner Pocket". However, his main contribution to Basie's organization was nearly two dozen arrangements and compositions, which included "The Deacon", "H.R.H." (Her Royal Highness – in honor of the band's command performance in London), "Counter Block", and lesser known tracks such as "Speaking of Sounds". His hymn-like ballad "To You"

116-538: A musical family of 10 (an older brother was pianist Hank Jones and a younger brother was drummer Elvin Jones ). A self-taught musician, Thad began performing professionally at the age of 16. He served in U.S. Army bands during World War II (1943–1946). After his military service, which included an association with the U.S. Military School of Music and working with area bands in Des Moines and Oklahoma City , Jones became

145-637: A resident trio was formed by Eddie Heywood , Zutty Singleton , and Jimmy Hamilton . By 1957, as one commentator writes, "Gordon reversed his policy, putting jazz at the top of the bill and letting the folknicks…and the comics…fill it out. Thus the Vanguard booked Miles Davis , Horace Silver , Thelonious Monk , Gerry Mulligan , the Modern Jazz Quartet , Jimmy Giuffre , Sonny Rollins , Anita O'Day , Charlie Mingus , Bill Evans (a regular), Stan Getz , Carmen McRae ." The booking of Monk demonstrated

174-604: A street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Thad Jones Vej" (Thad Jones Street). As chief conductor With Count Basie With Bob Brookmeyer With Kenny Burrell With Dexter Gordon With Coleman Hawkins With Elvin Jones With Oliver Nelson With Shirley Scott With Sonny Stitt With Ben Webster With Frank Wess With others With Harry James Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard

203-482: A study of the site and United Sound Systems in 2019 but found they were not suitable to be an affiliated area of the national park system. Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan , to Henry and Olivia Jones,

232-514: Is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village , New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon . Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry , but it became primarily a jazz music venue in 1957. It has hosted many highly renowned jazz musicians since then, and today is the oldest operating jazz club in New York City. Max Gordon opened

261-489: The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra played on Monday nights between 1966 and 1990. Max Gordon died on May 11, 1989. The day after, Lorraine closed the Vanguard; the following day, she reopened it and continued to run the place. On June 9, 2018, Lorraine Gordon died of a stroke at age 95. The Vanguard helped start many careers and has hosted many recordings that are regarded as masterpieces in its basement, making it now

290-576: The Danish Radio Big Band into one of the world's best. The result can be heard on a live-recording from the Montmartre in Copenhagen. In July 1979, Jones formed a new big band, Eclipse, with which he recorded a live album, Eclipse . Several Americans were on the album: pianist Horace Parlan , baritonist Sahib Shihab , trumpeter Tim Hagans , and trombonist/vocalist Richard B. Boone . The rest of

319-602: The Phil Hill Quintet, recorded a live album on July 20, 1949. The following April, the Wardell Gray Quartet, with Hill, Richardson and Mardigan recorded for Prestige. In the latter half of 1949, the trio was headlined by Tate Houston , and later by Frank Foster . In the early 1950s, the Billy Mitchell Quintet, featuring Elvin Jones , replaced Hill's trio as the house band. In 1953, Miles Davis joined

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348-689: The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra . The group started with informal late-night jam sessions among New York's top studio musicians. They began performing at the Village Vanguard in February 1966, to wide acclaim, and continued with Jones in the lead for 12 years. They won a 1978 Grammy Award for their album Live in Munich . Jones taught at William Paterson College in New Jersey, which is now

377-663: The U.S. to take over the leadership of the Count Basie Orchestra, upon his former leader's death. Jones fronted the Basie band on numerous tours, also writing arrangements for recordings and performances with vocalist Caterina Valente and the Manhattan Transfer , but had to step down due to ill health. He returned to his home in Copenhagen for the last few months of his life, and died of cancer on August 20, 1986, aged 63, at Herlev Hospital. In later years, his playing ability

406-509: The Vanguard (1999). "The words 'Live at the Village Vanguard' do have a direct and positive influence on an album's sales", said Bruce Lundvall , president of Blue Note , a jazz label with more than a dozen "Live at the Vanguard" titles in its catalog. In 2013, Ravi Coltrane , the son of John Coltrane , performed at the Village Vanguard. Singer Cécile McLorin Salvant recorded many of

435-465: The Vanguard in May 1970 that were compiled for his album Rahsaan Rahsaan . During the same year and only four months apart, Pat Patrick and Thelonious Monk played together at the Village Vanguard. Other recordings include Art Pepper 's Thursday Night at the Village Vanguard (1977), Tommy Flanagan 's Nights at the Vanguard (1986), Vincent Herring 's Folklore: Live at the Village Vanguard (1993), and Wynton Marsalis 's seven-disc Live at

464-521: The Vanguard recordings we hear similar styles in arrangements. In the song " Old Devil Moon ", Rollins is accompanied only by a bassist and a drummer. Musically, this song set the standard for the piano-less trio. Following Rollins, recordings continued; The Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band performed and recorded there in December 1960 after returning from a European Tour. Then there was John Coltrane 's and Bill Evans 's Vanguard titles, both from 1961 (Evans

493-485: The Vanguard's ability to take a relatively unknown musician and help launch their career. The story began with the first ever encounter between Max and Lorraine, who met in the Bluebell Bakery, a "homey little Fire Island joint." After Lorraine walked in and spotted Max (who she knew to be the Vanguard's owner), she proposed that he showcase Monk at the club for a week. Max agreed and on September 14, 1948, Monk opened at

522-445: The Vanguard, though, was because there were jazz jam sessions in the afternoons on Sundays. You could go hear Lester Young, Ben Webster, all the greatest jazz musicians for fifty cents at the door, or something like that." Although jazz was not yet the main attraction at the club, the Vanguard was a haven for small, swing groups. In the 1930s and 1940s, Sidney Bechet , Una Mae Carlisle , Art Hodes , and Mary Lou Williams performed at

551-526: The Vanguard. According to Lorraine Gordon, "in time, Max began to book acts, often three a night. Many proved to be high-caliber jazzmen." In 1940, Roy Eldridge performed at the Vanguard. His performance and his dedicated fans raised the possibility that jazz could be the main attraction. As modern jazz developed in the 1940s, small groups began to dominate the Vanguard. College students and artists in Greenwich Village took an interest in jazz. In 1940,

580-486: The Vanguard. The reception was not ideal. "[N]obody came. None of the so-called jazz critics. None of the so-called cognoscenti. Zilch." But Lorraine continued to sponsor Monk as a genius and, through her persistence, helped him grow into the pillar of jazz he became. From the 1950s on, the Vanguard was the leading small venue for jazz, launching many celebrated careers and sustaining others that were already aloft. The Thad Jones – Mel Lewis Orchestra that eventually became

609-468: The Village Vanguard in 1934 on Charles Street and Greenwich Avenue in Manhattan , New York City. He intended it to be a forum for poets and artists as well as a site for musical performances. Due to insufficient facilities, Gordon was refused a cabaret license from the police department and was unable to create the club that he envisioned. In his autobiography he wrote: "I knew if I was ever to get anywhere in

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638-501: The band comprised trombonists Bjarne Thanning and Ture Larsen, trumpeter Lars Togeby, altoists Ole Thøger and Michael Hove, tenor saxophonist Bent Jædig , and bassist Jesper Lundgaard . Jones further composed for the Danish Radio Big Band and taught jazz at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen. He studied composition formally during this period, and also took up the valve trombone. In February 1985, Jones returned to

667-466: The band, and would return many times with his own groups. Other performers included Pepper Adams , Sonny Stitt , Ahmad Jamal , Donald Byrd , Frank Gant , and Curtis Fuller . In 2018, Detroit Sound Conservancy , local music preservation and advocacy nonprofit, purchased the building. In 2020, the club was designated a local Historic District by the City of Detroit. The National Park Service conducted

696-507: The nightclub business, I'd have to find another place with two johns, two exits, two hundred feet away from a church or synagogue or school, and with the rent under $ 100 a month." In 1934, he moved his business and purchased the Golden Triangle, a speakeasy at 178 Seventh Avenue South. The Golden Triangle opened its doors in 1935. The Golden Triangle's basement facility structure resembled that of an isosceles triangle . After purchasing

725-717: The property, Gordon changed the name of the club to the Village Vanguard. Like its prototype on Charles Street, the Vanguard was dedicated to poetry readings and folk music . During the 1930s and 1940s, visitors to the club heard poetry read by Maxwell Bodenheim and Harry Kemp , blues and folk music by Lead Belly , and Caribbean calypso by the Duke of Iron . Painters discussed the Spanish Civil War between walls dotted with political posters. Comedians such as Phil Leeds performed stand-up routines. Lorraine Gordon , Max Gordon's wife, wrote: "The biggest reason my pals and I went to

754-529: The site of the Thad Jones Archive, containing pencil scores and vintage photos as part of the Living Jazz Archives. In January 1979, Thad suddenly moved to Copenhagen , Denmark (to the great surprise of his New York bandmates), where several other U.S. jazz musicians had gone to live. There he became the leader of The Danish Radio Big Band , and married a Danish woman, Lis. Jones transformed

783-445: Was diminished due to a lip injury, but his composing and arranging skills blossomed. His best-known composition is the standard " A Child Is Born ". At the time of his death, Jones had a six-year-old son, also named Thad (Thaddeus Joseph William Jones), with his wife, Lis Jones. He had a daughter Thedia and a son Bruce in the U.S. Jones was buried in Copenhagen's Vestre Kirkegård Cemetery (Western Churchyard Cemetery). Thad Jones has

812-550: Was extensively recorded at the Village Vanguard just three months before his death in 1980). Coltrane's album was five titles taken from 22 recorded songs over four nights at the Vanguard. In 1962 The Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New York was released. The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra performed every Monday Night beginning in 1965, recording several times, and in 1976 hosted Dexter Gordon's " Homecoming " performance with Woody Shaw. Rahsaan Roland Kirk performed several shows at

841-648: Was performed by the Basie band combined with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in their only recording together, and the recording Dance Along With Basie contains nearly an entire album of Jones's uncredited arrangements of standard tunes. In 1959, Jones played cornet on Thelonious Monk 's 5 by Monk by 5 album. Jones left the Basie Orchestra in 1963 to become a freelance arranger and musician in New York City . In 1965, he and drummer Mel Lewis formed

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