Ok, I need some reference.
Anyone out there ever been in the Village Vanguard in NYC?
I'm working on something - a jazz-flavored piece set in around 1960, 1961. But I need some reference for what the area of NY is like, and what the club looks like inside. I'm just trying to fill in the scene in my head, the specific details don't matter so much as background texture.
Anyone?
(It's either that or make this shit up. Which I can do...)
Dude, try a Google Image Search -- lots of photos of the interior and exterior out there...
Gregg
Yeah Gregg, photos I got, but I wanted some human reference for what it *feels* like, what the neighborhood is like.
There's a history of the club here: http://www.villagevanguard.net/frames.htm
You might also see some video of it in the Thelonious Monk movie "Straight, No Chaser". I don't remember exactly, but it'd give you a good feel for the era anyway.
There are also some videos of the John Coltrane Quartet from that era (early 60's) which might have something useful.
I'd read you chapter and verse from Miles' autobiography, but you've probably already got it, and besides, mine is packed now.
Really, though, you need to go to NYC and give it the sniff test. I've never been to the VV, but I could tell you all about CBGB. That men's bathroom was a scary fucking place.
Can't wait for the story. It sounds cool.