ValerieB

A lot of websites have clips but start with cnn.com. Good luck. It was really a wonderful memorial. Try this link. http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/18/showbiz/whitney-houston-funeral/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 i think the sites without any commentary are the best and there are quite a few of them, including NBC and ABC, i believe.

looks right to me!

why didn't you just beat her up while she was alive?! what hautiness! and this on the day this troubled woman has been put in the ground. and you're the one who's cold, Chuck!

Unfortunately, when something like this that should be very personal and private, is turned into a media circus and the family plays right into its hands by making a spectacle of the funeral service, it's difficult to stay on task. interestingly, from my perspective, the family did quite the opposite. the funeral was as personal and private as it could be. there was absolutely noting circus-like about it at all. just good friends and family. i streamed it on the internet and saw it with no commentary and it felt quite intimate. everyone who spoke had something very worthwhile to share, knew her well and obviously loved her.

i think you folks are totally mean-spirited. i agree in some cases about whose talent you like and don't, but this i thought was a Whitney RIP thread. and you guys have a choice about what singers you listen to. it's always "different strokes for different folks," but a little more respect is needed here, IMHO!

who says he hasn't seen his daughter?!? and that hotel room is sealed!

you spoke my thoughts, Dan, and i'm sure many other people's as well.

i think everyone here is supportive and appreciative of ALL the jazz clubs in NYC. i know i am. from L.A., i pay to stream Small's and get to as many clubs as possible when i'm visiting. that was not the disagreement on this thread. it was just the "bashing" and "put-down" of Lorraine Gordon and the Village Vanguard, who some of us feel is due respect and gratitude, in spite of her being testy at times. what she continues to do in her late eighties is absolutely amazing and i am totally appreciative whether i'd want her for my Valentine or not! p.s. actually the Blue Note is my least favorite for a number of reasons but i will go there to support musicians i love!

the only thing i'm aware of for those dates is our very own Jim Alfredson with blues singer Janiva Magness at McCabe's in Santa Monica on the 17th.

i'm hoping to catch you guys at McCabe's!

I'll let you in on a secret----against my better judgement: Fat Cat IMO is the hippest joint in NYC and the best deal. $3 to get in to hear musicians that smoke anyone you could hear at the Vanguard (except perhaps the Orchestra, which John Mosca has done a great job of leading for years now). Smalls is also a great deal. I admit my prejudice b/c both employ my friends and myself. But I believe I speak the truth. Plus 'the cats' can't afford admission and can only get in if they know someone or have saved their sheckels. Fat Cat and Smalls have never turned anyone away, and customers get to stay for every set of three different bands until 4 or 5 AM. Your call. Let's face it: The jazz greats that made the Vanguard what it was are long gone---either that or, like Sonny Rollins or Ahmad Jamal (both of whom I heard there in the glory pre-Lorraine days) won't work there anymore. I won't name names but IMO other than Tom Harrell most of the people playing the Vanguard are not even close to the best out there. So why not save money and let it---and Lorraine---ride? I'll give her one thing: it's not her fault the greats died off (actually, on 2nd thought....just kidding). She wants to stay in business and the name still brings in customers, so why not? But the Vanguard had its day, and more than earned its place in history. Now it's over. From the ashes will rise new Phoenixes. That's the cycle of life. Leaving Lorraine's personality aside and relative cost of clubs, this overstates the case so drastically it's laughable. First, to suggest that Sonny Rollins not playing the Vanguard is an indictment is to ignore the fact that Sonny hasn't played any nightclub anywhere in literally decades, stopping long before Max died. Second, here's the lineup at the club for the first quartet of the year. We can all argue about taste, and everyone can find fault with this guy or that guy and point to others that should get the gigs as we construct our own ideal line-up, etc -- I certainly am not enamored with all of these players. But just using these three months as a baseline, to say that "most of the people playing the Vanguard are not even close to the best out there" seems more rooted in stylistic preferences and prejudices than an objective survey of what's being offered. As always, Your mileage may vary. JANUARY 2012 January 03 - January 08 BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO Larry Grenadier-b, Jeff Ballard-d January 10 - January 15 GERI ALLEN, ESPERANZA SPALDING, TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON January 17 - January 22 CHRIS POTTER QUARTET David Virelles-p, Joe Martin-b, Marcus Gilmore-d January 24 - January 29 BARRY HARRIS TRIO Ray Drummond-b, Leroy Williams-d January 31 - February 05 JEFF "TAIN" WATTS QUARTET David Kikoski-p, Marcus Strickland-sax, Orlando LeFleming-b February 07 - February 12 FRED HERSCH TRIO John Hebert-b, Eric McPherson-d February 14 - February 19 MARK TURNER QUARTET Avishai Cohen-tpt, Joe Martin-b, Marcus Gilmore-d February 21 - February 26 FABIAN ALMAZAN TRIO Linda Oh-b, Henry Cole-d, February 28 - March 04 KURT ROSENWINKEL QUARTET Aaron Parks-p, Eric Revis-b, Justin Faulkner-d March 06 - March 11 AL FOSTER QUARTET J. D. Allen-sax, Adam Birnbaum-p, Dezron Douglas-b March 13 - March 18 THE HEATH BROTHERS Jimmy Heath-sax, Albert "Tootie" Heath-d, Jeb Patton-p, David Wong-b March 20 - March 25 BILL McHENRY QUARTET Bill McHenry-sax, Orrin Evans-p, Eric Revis-b, Andrew Cyrille-d March 27 - April 01 ENRICO PIERANUNZI TRIO April 03 - April 08 CRAIG TABORN TRIO April 10 - April 15 TOM HARRELL QUINTET Tom Harrell-tpt, Wayne Escoffery-sax, Danny Grissett-p, Ugonna Okegwo-b, Johnathan Blake-d April 17 - April 22 JOSHUA REDMAN TRIO Joshua Redman-sax, Reuben Rogers-b Greg Hutchinson-d April 24 - April 29 ROY HARGROVE QUINTET Go overpay to hear the great Esperanza Spaulding, then. Enjoy yourself. I'm done. you should be done! your argument is absolutely ridiculous, colored obviously by your biases and lack of common sense. you are feebly attempting to compare oranges with Rolls Royces. (just a bit of exaggeration on my part!!) LOL the clubs you mention (wonderful as they are) couldn't begin to afford to even pay the Vanguard lineups! they are fabulous! and TLC is playing with various configurations of those who recorded with her on Mosaic. they're all wonderful, extremely creative musicians.

and can you imagine running a club like the VV when you're that age?!? i absolutely cannot!

She's such a peach and so devoted to her customers she keeps two tables off-limits: one to sit at, the other (adjacent) so her royal view isn't blocked. And it's old news to anyone on the jazz scene in NY that she can drink most customers under the table. Believe what y'all want. That's it from me here. Like Mammy Yokum 'I has spoken'..... oh, dear, what sinful, horrible things you're accusing her of!! LOL!! in her own club, she saves a seat for herself and possibly one for a guest or someone to join her?!? what nerve! and at her age, i would think that the drinks might be her saving grace with all the responsibility she has. more power to her. i'd love to join her in a martini! and you have your very own axe to grind, fasstrack, that's obvious. Not really. I don't care too much one way or the other about Lorraine or the Vanguard. But reading that disingenuous tripe just brought back the memory. I'm far from the only person feeling like this and I don't want to beat it into the ground. So salud! i agree with you and will make this my last post on the subject: if she were an out-and-out bitch, i would still be enormously grateful to her for preserving one of the best and oldest jazz clubs in the world!!

She's such a peach and so devoted to her customers she keeps two tables off-limits: one to sit at, the other (adjacent) so her royal view isn't blocked. And it's old news to anyone on the jazz scene in NY that she can drink most customers under the table. Believe what y'all want. That's it from me here. Like Mammy Yokum 'I has spoken'..... oh, dear, what sinful, horrible things you're accusing her of!! LOL!! in her own club, she saves a seat for herself and possibly one for a guest or someone to join her?!? what nerve! and at her age, i would think that the drinks might be her saving grace with all the responsibility she has. more power to her. i'd love to join her in a martini! and you have your very own axe to grind, fasstrack, that's obvious.

Val, I agree with you that she has done a fine job keeping the place afloat when most Jazz clubs have folded. However, even you must have gotten a chuckle out of her "nice to the people" comment. I have heard from many "people" who have been treated anything but nice by Lorraine at the Vanguard. definitely gave me a chuckle! but, even so, all my hats are off to her. can't imagine what she's had to put up with over the decades as well! in case you haven't noticed: customers and musicians are certainly capable of being moody and testy, especially when drinking!

Art has at least a couple of daughters, one of whom i know. she's a beautiful woman and her mother is Ernestine Anderson.

Don't be fooled. She turns on the charm in interviews but treats customers and others like crap. I won't even go into the politics involved in getting a gig at the Vanguard. I haven't experience in the latter. As far as the former, she was such a rude creep to me the last time I went and paid to hear one of the few people worth hearing anymore at the Vanguard that I haven't been back (except to give music to a member of the Vanguard Orchestra) and don't intend to---until she's gone. Maybe I can slip in Monday to hear the band---the night she's off. It's fine with me anyway b/c almost no one performing there these days interests me to spend money to hear that much. The late Max Gordon was a class act and presided over a great club. Alcoholic and nasty Lorraine did the same thing to the Vanguard that Bradley Cunningham's widow Wendy did to Bradley's: run it into the ground. But I have great memories of the Max Gordon-era Vanguard. i agree that Lorraine certainly can be moody and testy at times. but she's done a phenomenal job keeping the club going. "run it into the ground"?!? are you kidding, or what? and did you notice how old she is. give me a break. luckily she can do without your support.

have some good memories from that club! actually sat at the bar one night next to Tony Bennett! saw Herbie H. and Carmen McR. there among many, many others.

i don't think "luck" had anything to do with it.

she obviously was a real class act!! NOT!! his final act mos def was classy!

i loved Ben Gazzara from way back. my big thrill was talking to him in a little Italian restaurant a few years ago on Lexington Ave. he was warm and friendly but didn't look like he was in good health. the restaurant is gone after being there many years and now, very sadly, so is Mr. Gazzzara. he was very special. R.I.P.

as much as i'm a big fan of The Jazz Bakery and have been for decades, i cannot help but wish they were going smaller with this project. the prices of their offerings, as stated in the article, will be what the charge is for Dizzy's at Jazz at Lincoln Center!!

he was not fat at all when he was a young man.

talking about when he was MUCH younger!

i think he may have done it because he was seriously ill.