Ben Wendel Understory_ Live at The Village Vang(2024)[hr]

Here comes Wynton Marsalis with a whopping seven CDs culled from septet performances at the Vanguard from 1990 through 1994. The music is cleverly presented: Each disc represents a different night of the week, starting on Monday and wrapping up with Sunday…

The latest ECM album to feature pianist Ethan Iverson – following last year’s duo recording with saxophonist Mark Turner, Temporary Kings, and two lauded discs with the Billy Hart Quartet – presents the Brooklyn-based artist at the head of his own quartet in a program of standards and blues, recorded live at Manhattan’s famed Village Vanguard. Iverson’s quartet for Common Practice features as its prime melodic voice the veteran Tom Harrell, who was voted Trumpeter of the Year in 2018 by the U.S. Jazz Journalists Association.

Christian McBride returns with his Inside Straight quintet for a new recording called Live at the Village Vanguard. This is the third album for Inside Straight, but it’s only their first live record — even though the band was originally formed purely for a live setting.

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has proven himself an artist of rare ability and wide-ranging aesthetic interests. Now with his bold new double-album A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard, Akinmusire reached a new pinnacle as he and his quartet - Sam Harris (piano), Harish Raghavan (bass) & Justin Brown (drums) - join a distinguished strata of jazz artists who've made live recordings in the hallowed New York City venue.

One of the finest saxophonists on the planet teams up with an all-star heavy-weight band at the storied New York venue in a set of covers. This is some of the most classic and exciting live music from a modern, small band ensemble that you’ll hear today.

Legendary guitarist and composer Kurt Rosenwinkel put together visionary jazz musicians Aaron Parks (Piano & Keys), Eric Revis (Acoustic Bass), and Greg Hutchinson (Drums) for his new album. The exhilarating recording Undercover: Live At The Village Vanguard is a selection of seven of Rosenwinkel’s original compositions, captured over three nights of their week-long run at the historic Village Vanguard, the legendary New York jazz club that has been host to the defining artists in jazz, including Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, and countless others. Undercover: Live At The Village Vanguard captures the joyous, visceral energy of Rosenwinkel’s masterful quartet, and easily finds its place in the continuum of historic recordings made there.

Pianist Gerald Clayton is set to release his Blue Note Records debut Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard on July 10. Recorded at the legendary NYC jazz club with a quintet of longtime collaborators—Logan Richardson on alto saxophone, Walter Smith III on tenor saxophone, Joe Sanders on bass, and Marcus Gilmore on drums—Happening spotlights Clayton’s layered identity as a leader.