Died On This Date (November 4, 2009) Art D’Lugoff / Owned The Village Gate

Art D’Lugoff
August 2, 1924 – November 4, 2009

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Photo by Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

Art D’Lugoff was a highly respected jazz impresario who opened the Village Gate in New York in 1958.  The Greenwich Village jazz club became world famous thanks to D’Lugoff’s bookings of such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and many more.  Though mostly known as jazz venue, thanks in part to numerous “Live at the Village Gate” jazz albums over the years, D’Lugoff also hosted rock, blues, and R&B acts like Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and Aretha Franklin.  He does however, have the dubious honor of refusing to book a young Bob Dylan.  D’lugoff closed the club in 1994 due to financial troubles.  In later years, he was instrumental in the development of the National Jazz Museum of Harlem, and acted consultant for the 2008 opening of a new jazz club, Le Poisson Rouge, which stands in the original location of the Village Gate.  Art D’Lugoff passed away at the age of 85 on November 4, 2009.



Died On This Date (October 19, 1995) Don Cherry / Avant Garde Jazz Legend

Don Cherry
November 18, 1936 – October 19, 1995

Don Cherry 1Don Cherry was a highly regarded avant garde jazz trumpeter who is came to prominence during in the late ’50s while playing with Ornette Coleman.  His resume, both in the studio and on record, includes a who’s who of the greatest jazz musicians of the ’60s and ’70s.  It included John Coltrane, Sonny RollinsHerbie Hancock, Gato Barbieri, Sun Ra, and Ed Blackwell.  Cherry released several albums leading his own band on such labels as Blue Note and ECM.  He also appeared on a handful of rock albums, most notably those by Lou Reed and Ian Dury.  Don Cherry died of liver failure due to hepatitis at the age of 58.  His children include popular musicians, Neneh Cherry and Eagle-Eye Cherry.

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Mu First Part / Mu Second Part - Don Cherry

Died On This Date (September 28, 1991) Miles Davis / Jazz Icon

Miles Davis
May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991

milesMiles Davis was trumpeter who was one of jazz’s must influential musicians of all times.  Over the course of his career, he helped launch the careers of some of biggest names in jazz by hiring them for his bands.  That list includes John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.  In 19444, Davis moved to New York City right after graduating from high school.  He became an integral part of the be-bop scene there.  He also helped pave the way for other forms of jazz as well, including hard bop, fusion, cool jazz, and free jazz.    In 1959, Davis released A Kind Of Blue, which would go on to be his biggest selling album and a key release of all jazz.  Over the course of his career, Davis was awarded nine Grammys for now classic albums like Bitches Brew, Aura and Sketches of Spain.  Davis suffered from cocaine addiction for many years, and was finally able to kick it in the early ’80s.  That decade proved to be a nice renaissance period for him thanks in part to his associating with more contemporary pop artists like Public Image Ltd., Scritti Politti, and Artists United Against Apartheid.  Miles Davis passed away on September 28, 1991 at the age of 65.  Causes of death was pneumonia, stroke and respiratory failure.

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Kind of Blue - Miles Davis