Art D'Lugoff
Encyclopedia
Art D'Lugoff was an American
jazz
impresario
. He opened The Village Gate
, a jazz club in New York City's Greenwich Village
, in 1958. D'Lugoff sought out the hottest talent, hosting prominent jazz artists, including Billie Holiday
, Duke Ellington
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Aretha Franklin
, and Miles Davis
, as well as the best in comedy, including Bill Cosby
, Mort Sahl
, Woody Allen
, and John Belushi
.
D'Lugoff turned away Bob Dylan
, prompting the latter to write music in the basement of the club. He also fired a young Dustin Hoffman
for providing poor table service. Playwright Sam Shepard
once bused tables. D'Lugoff styled himself on the famous showman Sol Hurok
. His avant-garde programming also set the stage for theatrical nudity in New York - the 1974 musical review Let My People Come
featured a fully nude co-ed cast.
Financial reverses led D'Lugoff to declare bankruptcy in 1991. He closed the club in 1994. In the wake of The Village Gate's closing, D'Lugoff dreamed of opening a new jazz club near Times Square
. He worked on raising money for the development of a national jazz museum and hall of fame to be located in New York City. D'Lugoff's idea of a museum eventually developed into the National Jazz Museum of Harlem.
D'Lugoff won the Paul Robeson Award
in 1992.
In 2008 the Village Gate re-opened under the name "Le Poisson Rouge", with D'Lugoff as a consultant.
On November 4, 2009, after complaining of a shortness of breath, he was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital where he died at the age of 85. On November 7, 2009, citing an unnamed source, the New York Post
claimed that at the time of his death, D'Lugoff was weeks away from re-launching his nightclub at an even bigger downtown venue.
D'Lugoff's wife, Avital D'Lugoff, worked as a photographer; she died on March 29, 2010. The couple had four children: Sharon, Dahlia, Rachael, and Raphael.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
. He opened The Village Gate
The Village Gate
The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York.Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 158 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structure by architect Ernest Flagg was known at the time as...
, a jazz club in New York City's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, in 1958. D'Lugoff sought out the hottest talent, hosting prominent jazz artists, including Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, and Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, as well as the best in comedy, including Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Mort Sahl
Mort Sahl
Morton Lyon "Mort" Sahl is a Canadian-born American comedian and actor. He occasionally wrote jokes for speeches delivered by President John F. Kennedy. He was the first comedian to record a live album and the first to perform on college campuses...
, Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, and John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
.
D'Lugoff turned away Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, prompting the latter to write music in the basement of the club. He also fired a young Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
for providing poor table service. Playwright Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
once bused tables. D'Lugoff styled himself on the famous showman Sol Hurok
Sol Hurok
Sol Hurok was a world-famous 20th century American impresario.-Biography:...
. His avant-garde programming also set the stage for theatrical nudity in New York - the 1974 musical review Let My People Come
Let My People Come
Let My People Come is the title of a pornographic musical which ran from January 8, 1974 to July 5, 1976 in New York City, at The Village Gate in Greenwich Village. Its run was continued in Los Angeles, in Philadelphia, at the Grendel's Lair Cabaret Theatre, and, in the 1980s, at the Basin Street...
featured a fully nude co-ed cast.
Financial reverses led D'Lugoff to declare bankruptcy in 1991. He closed the club in 1994. In the wake of The Village Gate's closing, D'Lugoff dreamed of opening a new jazz club near Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
. He worked on raising money for the development of a national jazz museum and hall of fame to be located in New York City. D'Lugoff's idea of a museum eventually developed into the National Jazz Museum of Harlem.
D'Lugoff won the Paul Robeson Award
Paul Robeson Award
An award bestowed by the Paul Robeson Citation Award Committee of the Actors' Equity Association.- Recipients :1974 Paul Robeson1975 Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee1976 Lillian Hellman1977 Pete Seeger1978 Sam Jaffe1979 Harry Belafonte1980 Alice Childress...
in 1992.
In 2008 the Village Gate re-opened under the name "Le Poisson Rouge", with D'Lugoff as a consultant.
On November 4, 2009, after complaining of a shortness of breath, he was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital where he died at the age of 85. On November 7, 2009, citing an unnamed source, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
claimed that at the time of his death, D'Lugoff was weeks away from re-launching his nightclub at an even bigger downtown venue.
D'Lugoff's wife, Avital D'Lugoff, worked as a photographer; she died on March 29, 2010. The couple had four children: Sharon, Dahlia, Rachael, and Raphael.
External links
- IMDB Biography
- Le Poisson Rouge
- Remember the Village Gate Facebook group
- Two-part interview with Art D'Lugoff JazzWax, Oct. 13 & 14, 2008
- "Art D'Lugoff, Village Gate Impresario, Dies at 85" New York Times, Nov. 6, 2009
- "Art D'Lugoff, Village Royalty, Gone Too Soon at 85" The Village Voice, Nov. 5, 2009
- "Art D’Lugoff, Jazz and NYC Nightclub Impresario, Dies at 85" JazzTimes, Nov. 5, 2009
- "Art D'Lugoff dies at 85; longtime owner of the Village Gate, his conscience shaped counterculture" New York Daily News, Nov. 5, 2009
- "Art D'Lugoff, 1924-2009", New York Post, Nov. 7 2009.