Jazz Showcase's Upcoming Shows

In August 1979, the ensemble was the opening band on the first night of the First Annual Chicago Jazz Festival. 46 years later, the CJO stands as not only the oldest professional big band in Chicago, but also the second oldest professional civic jazz orchestra in the United States (second only to the Columbus Jazz Orchestra).

Grammy Award winning drummer Kyle Swan has been working on mastering his craft for over 20 years. He has demonstrated true dedication to enhancing his artistry in every way. He attained his Undergraduate and Graduate degrees from University of Miami’s Frost School of Music from the years 2013-2018. He studied Criminology and Jazz Studies in his undergraduate degree and became the TA for the Jazz Drum Department during his graduate studies. He has participated in many music festivals across the world which include the Montreal Jazz Festival (Canada, 2016), The Jazz Cruise(2017, 2023, 2024), University of Wyoming Jazz Festival (2024), Port Au Prince Jazz Festival(Haiti, 2018), Dromos Jazz Festival(Italy 2018) Guatemala Jazz Festival(Guatemala 2019), Menorca Jazz Festival(Spain 2019), Leavenworth Jazz Festival (Washington 2023), and many others. He has had the honor of performing/recording/touring with many esteemed artists such as, @Grammy Award winning artists Kurt Elling, Brian Lynch, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Paquito D’Rivera. He has also had the privilege of playing/recording with other phenomenal artists such as Charles McPherson, Sean Jones, Orrin Evans, Peter Bernstein, Rodney Whitaker, Cyrille Aimee, Bobby Broom, Martin Bejerano, Ira Sullivan, Alex Brown, etc. Kyle can be heard on recordings including @Grammy Winning “Omni American Book Club.” And others such as “7X7BY7,” “Tell the Truth,” “Kemet (The Black Land),” “Gola Akoustik,” “Hallways,” and others. Kyle has also taught/performed/adjudicated at various jazz camps/festivals including Indiana All State Jazz Bands (2025), Tonica International Jazz Festival (Guadalajara, 2016), Festival de Jazz de Antequera (Spain, 2022), and Leavenworth Jazz Festival, (Seattle, 2023). As he currently resides in Chicago, Il., you can find him performing at jazz clubs and teaching master classes and privately around the city, country, and abroad. As a student of the Black American Artform that is Jazz, Kyle has devoted quality time to his musical evolution, instruction, and mastery

Cameron Pfiffner/ Saxophones and Flute Pat Mallinger / Saxophones  Pete Benson / Organ Neil Hemphill/  Drums  Founded around 1990, Sabertooth is led by two saxophonists:  Cameron Pfiffner & Pat Mallinger. The band started out with the unique pairing of its two lead reedmen at an old musicians hang called Jazz Bulls in Lincoln Park West neighborhood of Chicago. From that night’s collaboration the idea of Sabertooth began to take shape with a driving force behind the widely varied stylings best summed up as, “just groove it”. Sabertooth has often ventured beyond soul-jazz and hard bop and moved into post-bop and modal territory with John Coltrane’s modal recordings of the early to mid-’60s influencing the groups sound. Sabertooth is both a post-bop group and a soul-jazz/hard bop group with a highly diverse repertoire that includes many original compositions and jazz classics by Duke Ellington, Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter, Lester Young, John Coltrane, as well as covers by the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Bob Marley. Special invited guests who have performed with Sabertooth have included Harry Conick Jr., Kurt Elling, Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis Band, Jack McDuff, Joey DeFrancesco, Umphrey’s Mcgee Band, and many others. Sabertooth has also performed for numerous jazz festivals, concerts and private engagements.