Village Vanguard Jazz Club / Live Music Venue

West Village, New York –

Opened in 1935 and host over the years to music greats including everyone from John Coltrane and Miles Davis to Barbara Streisand, Village Vanguard remains one of the city’s most famous jazz venues.

The dedicated black-clad jazz diehards and entertainment professionals who squeeze through the tiny door and down the narrow staircase every night find themselves in an intimate basement club fitted out with not much more than a modest stage and small bar.

Brass instruments and a collection of black-and-white photos of jazz greats form the backdrop for the low-key groups of NYU music students and Vanguard veterans chatting at tiny tables, but the buzz of conversation dies down once the lights dim and the night’s performers make their way across the elevated walkway to the instrument-cluttered stage.

From that point, the music takes over as twinkling piano lines and gut-rumbling bass notes wash over the silently nodding crowd, occasionally eliciting a round of appreciative hoots after an especially wild solo.

Time has clearly been good to the Village Vanguard, whose moody atmosphere, sophisticated attitude, and exceptional music continue to draw a devoted crowd of jazz lovers.