The Jazz Showcase
Trumpeter Pharez Whitted and band perform at Jazz Showcase
The Jazz Showcase is the oldest jazz club in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1947 by Joe Segal, who still owns and operates the venue. Many famous musicians play at the Showcase on tour, including Chris Potter, Frank Morgan, Danilo Perez, Larry Coryell, Paul Wertico, Marbin, 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, Bu Pleasant, Zoot Sims/Al Cohn, Joe Williams, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Joe Farrell, Art Farmer, Bobby Hutcherson, the Capp/Pierce Juggernaut, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Gary Bartz, George Coleman, Tommy Flanagan, Sonny Fortune, Joanne Brackeen, Tom Harrell, Kenny Drew, Jr., Marian McPartland, Kenny Barron, Eric Alexander, Harold Mabern, and others.
B. B. King at The Jazz Showcase
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. Having changed location numerous times since its founding, the club relocated again in 2008 to Dearborn Station, in Chicago, Illinois.
