Jazz Showcase is one of the oldest jazz clubs in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1947 by NEA Jazz Master Joe Segal, whose son Wayne now owns and operates the venue.[1] [2] Segal's various showcases have served as a launch pad for a number of career jazz musicians.
Having changed location numerous times since its founding, the club last relocated in 2008 to a South Plymouth Court address on the side of the rebuilt Dearborn Station, in Chicago, Illinois. To honor Segal, South Plymouth Court was renamed Joe Segal Way by the City of Chicago at the behest of Alderman Bob Fioretti.[3] One of its previous locations was in The Blackstone Hotel for 14 years from 1981 to 1995.[4]
Joe Segal (April 24, 1926 – August 10, 2020) founded the Jazz Showcase in 1947 in Chicago, Illinois and was the club's owner until his death in 2020. Born April 24, 1926 in Philadelphia, he grew up listening to Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Fats Waller on the radio. When he was old enough, he would visit the Earl Theater to watch them perform.
The Air Force drafted Segal in 1944 and he was stationed in Champaign, Illinois for a while. When he had leave, he rode the train to Chicago to attend live jazz performances at clubs on Randolph Street. Following his military discharge, Segal moved to Chicago, enrolled in Roosevelt College on the G.I. Bill and worked at different jazz venues around the city. In 1947, he worked with his classmates, Gus Savage, who was chairman of the Social Activities Committee for Roosevelt, and Bennett Johnson to organize a weekly jam session. They presented jazz greats such Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Sonny Rollins and many others. For the next ten years he organized live jazz sessions on the school's campus featuring musicians he met working at various local jazz venues.
Beginning in 1957, Segal ran his showcase shows in what he later estimated was 63 different locations over the years. By the 1970s, Segal opened a formal club called the Jazz Showcase on Rush Street. He gave performers a five evening run with a Sunday show to encourage young people to attend.
In 2013, Segal received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Roosevelt University. In 2014, Segal was given the rare honor of being a club owner/presenter chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts as an NEA Jazz Master.