The Jazz Showcase is the oldest historic jazz club in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1947 by Joe Segal, now owned and operated by Wayne Segal (Joe Segal's son). Since 1947, Joe Segal has been the person that you first meet when entering the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. This past April 24th, Segal turned 88, but you wouldn't know it if you sat with him at the entrance to the Showcase and listened to him talk with the customers for that night's show. Just as he has done for over 66 years, Segal greets the audience with a thank you, as he takes the cover charge.
The greatest name in Jazz have played at the Jazz showcase on Tour including Roy Hargrove, Chris Potter, Frank Morgan, Danilo Perez, Larry Coryell, Paul Wertico, James Carter, Stu Katz, Ira Sullivan, Winard Harper, McCoy Tyner, Dexter Gordon, Bunky Green, Count Basie, Kenny Burrell, Milt Jackson, Jimmy Smith, Randy Weston, Barry Harris, Joey DeFrancesco, Jack McDuff, Bill Evans, Walter Bishop Jr., Sun Ra, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Sonny Stitt, Yusef Lateef, Eddie Jefferson, Richie Cole, Joe Lovano, Dizzy Gillespie (who appeared there on his birthday for many years), Johnny Griffin, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Howard McGee, George Benson, Pat Martino, Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, Philly Joe Jones, Charles McPherson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ernestine Anderson, Lou Donaldson, Hank Crawford, Jimmy McGriff, Lonny Liston Smith, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrahms, Zoot Sims/Al Cohn, Joe Williams, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Joe Farrell, Art Farmer, Bobby Hutcherson, the Capp/Pierce Juggernaut, Freddie Hubbard, and others. Ahmad Jamal recorded his trio album Chicago Revisited there in 1992. Joe Segal produced the live album "The Chase" by Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon there in 1970.
Today, the Jazz showcase continues to be a thriving Jazz club in Chicago and continues to bring in the top international & Chicago homegrown musicians.
