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NEWS: Village Vanguard’s Lorraine Gordon dies at 95

Lorraine Gordon, at her desk in the kitchen at the Village Vanguard
An uncredited photo from Alive At The Village Vanguard
Peter Bacon reports:

The words “an era has ended” are thoroughly appropriate. Lorraine Gordon, owner of the Village Vanguard, was a comforting constant in the ever-changing world of jazz, her presence at the club a near nightly one from when she took it over from her late husband, Max, in 1989 until 2013 when ill-health overcame her. She died of a stroke in Manhattan on Saturday. Here she is in 2013:



As Barry Singer wrote in the introduction to her 2006 memoir, Alive At The Village Vanguard (Hal Leonard): “Lorraine Gordon has lived more than a few lives: downtown bohemian, uptown grande dame, record business pioneer, wife, mother, and finally – at a point when most women her age were just settling into grandmotherhood – owner of the most famous jazz club in the world…”

Bill Frisell reflected: “Lorraine Gordon is why the Village Vanguard is what it is, and why it is.”

LINK: Tim Weiner’s obituary for The New York Times, detailing a fascinating life, is here.

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