The Village Gate | Greenwich Village | NYC | 2013

As I approached the old "Village Gate" bar and theater in New York City I felt hyper and nervous at the same time. For those like me who love all kinds of music this is one of those special places from the past. If you look in the photo you can see the Village Gate sign on top of this now CVS drug store.  Its a shame it all went away. But this is where it was, at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Street. Bleecker Street is not really that long so do yourself a favor and walk the entire length of it in honor of the history of this famous street. I have written earlier posts on how we got there from the Staten Island ferry terminal.

I don't need to repeat much of the history of this famous night club, since it is all over the internet.  But lets say in "the day" such greats as the following played or got their start there. John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Vasant Rai, Nina Simone, Herbie Mann and Aretha Franklin (who made her first New York appearance there). The show 'Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris', debuted at the Village Gate in 1968.

This club opened in 1958 and was also responsible for popularizing Latin music in NYC. Other greats such as Sonny Stitt, Eddie Palmieri, Dexter Gordon with Machito, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, James Moody, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Hutcherson, David "Fathead" Newman, Slide Hampton, Pharaoh Sanders and Jimi Hendrix played here at least once.  It was jazz heaven in the day.

From 1971 to 1973, a musical comedy revue called "National Lampoon's Lemmings" had a successful run at the Gate. It starred future comic notables John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Garry Goodrow and Christopher Guest.

The Village Gate closed its Greenwich Village location in 1993. The off-Broadway capacity Village Theater, which hosted performances of the musically themed Love, Janis, Dream a Little Dream, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and Escape From Bellevue, occupied the sub-level performance space until Fall 2007.







Here is an atmospheric photo I took of the place with my usual Nikon D300s and Tokina 12-24 mm f/4 lens.


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