Art D'Lugoff

Who was Art D'Lugoff?

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.