“We can’t remove the pillars, but we’re going to put mirrors on them, like in the old place,” Joe Segal tells me as we walk through the brand-new, about-to-open home of his Jazz Showcase–an empty shell of almost completely raw space–just 12 days before guitarist John Scofield will bring in his sizzling quartet for the official baptism. Two workmen hammer on large pieces of metal ductwork not yet installed. Also not installed is everything else–the service bar, the stage, the microphone and speaker cables, the bathrooms (one flight up), the lobby.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
“The entrance is here,” says Segal, pointing to where patrons will walk through a short gangway and then enter a relatively spacious foyer. “We may put Bird here,” he says, referring to the outsize head shot of saxist Charlie Parker–bebop’s (and Segal’s) patron saint–that has graced his last several locations. “We’ll have double-glass doors to the entrance, and a weather awning.”
Segal–who in 1997 will celebrate his 50th year of promoting jazz events in Chicago–closed down shop in the Blackstone this past fall. Maharishi Yagya University, the transcendent new owners of the Blackstone, had suggested radical changes to the longstanding agreement between the hotel and Segal, making it virtually impossible for him to continue there. If you wondered why the jazz scene seemed fairly quiet this winter, now you know. Segal’s tried and true lineup of mainstream jazz stars serves the city in the same way that their music serves the jazz world: it stands as the foundation supporting a host of other developments. Without the Showcase, Chicago’s jazz scene loses its center.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Marc PoKempner.
