Shows - Jazz Showcase

Gabriel Wade Quintet

Tue, Nov 03

Gabriel Wade - Trumpet Jared Schultz - Alto and Tenor Saxophone Isaiah Jones Jr. - Piano Nat Lin - Bass Sid Smith IV - Drums Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Gabriel Wade is a trumpeter, pianist, and educator who has been surrounded by music all his life. He has had the opportunity to play with the Count Basie Orchestra, Cab Calloway Orchestra, Clif Wallace Big Band, Evon J. Sams Quintet/Sextet/Nonet, Reginald Lewis Quintet, and the Marlene Rosenberg Quartet. As a sideman, he has performed at notable venues and festivals such as Andy's Jazz Club, the Elmhurst Jazz Festival, the Chicago Jazz Festival, and the Jazz Showcase. As a bandleader, he has performed at various locations in the central and southeastern Arkansas area, as well as in the northern Illinois area and at Fulton Street Collective and Angelo's Wine Bar in Chicago, Illinois. Recently, he qualified as a semifinalist in the Jazz Improvisation Division for the International Trumpet Guild's 2024 Ryan Anthony Memorial Trumpet Competition and earned first place in the 2024 Tom Williams Jazz Division of the National Trumpet Competition.

Raices Latin Jazz Quintet

Wed, Nov 04

Raíces (Roots) pays homage to the originators of Latin Jazz and performs original music in the same style. The release of their debut, self-titled album was well received and earned this exciting quintet a featured spot at the 2023 Chicago Latin Jazz Festival.

Raíces was modeled on the famous Cal Tjader Quintet of the 1950’s & 60’s by the late Chicago percussionist Rubén Alvarez and is now led by vibraphonist Joe Sonnefeldt. They played to a standing room only crowd at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase in July, 2026 to mark Cal Tjader’s Centennial. Raíces includes Stuart Seale on piano, Cuban-born bassist Eric Ferrer, Chicago stalwart Bobby Delgado on timbales, and Jorge Leal on congas.

Raíces’ concerts are always rousing as they put their modern, Chicago-influenced stamp on the Latin Jazz classics of artists like Tjader, Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Paquito D’Rivera and others. Their original compositions blend seamlessly with the standards they perform.

Jamaican Born Master Pianist Monty Alexander

Residency

Thu, Nov 05

Lorin Cohen - bass

Neil Smith - drums

Nearly sixty years after he moved to the United States from Kingston, Jamaica, his hometown, Grammy© nominated pianist Monty Alexander is an American classic, touring the world relentlessly with various projects, delighting a global audience drawn to his vibrant personality and soulful message. A perennial favorite at Jazz festivals and venues worldwide and at the Montreux Jazz Festival where he has appeared 23 times since 1976, his spirited conception is one informed by the timeless verities: endless melody-making, effervescent grooves, sophisticated voicings, a romantic spirit, and a consistent predisposition, as Alexander accurately states, “to build up the heat and kick up a storm.” In the course of any given performance, Alexander applies those aesthetics to a repertoire spanning a broad range of jazz and Jamaican musical expressions—the American songbook and the blues, gospel and bebop, calypso and reggae. Documented on more than 75 recordings and cited as the fifth greatest jazz pianist ever in The Fifty Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time (Hal Leonard Publishing), the Jamaican government designated Alexander Commander in the Order of Distinction in 2000 and conferred on him the national honor of the Order of Jamaica in 2022 for "Sterling Contributions to the Promotions of Jamaican Music and the Jazz Genre Interpretations Globally". In 2018 the University of The West Indies bestowed him with an honorary doctorate (DLitt) in recognition of his accomplishments.

Monty's latest album (released August 19, 2022) is titled Love Notes and is his first recording featuring his vocals. The release of “Love Notes” will be accompanied by tour dates worldwide.

Also in the works is “The Monty Alexander Movie,” a documentary on Monty’s life and music. Directed by Academy Award© winning cinematographer Jefferson Miller, and veteran filmmaker Arthur Gorson, the project is currently in production in Jamaica, the U.S. and Europe.

“Monty Alexander has appeared at the jazz Showcase on many occasions along with many jazz greats starting in 1975.

“The Jamaican government has awarded him the titles:—

*The Honorable Monty Alexander