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Johnny Showtime (a.k.a. John
Janowiak) has carved out a niche as an in-demand trombone soloist
and section man for a wide variety of groups and recording projects.
With a brawny, hard-swinging style that straddles the line between
old-school funk and modern jazz, Showtime has a way of making
audiences listen.
Showtime is probably best
known for his trombone work in Liquid Soul, which he played
in from 1995 to early 2003. He recorded on three of the band's
albums, including the Grammy-nominated Here's the Deal
(2000). The gig took him all over the United States and Canada,
plus Mexico, Japan, Germany and Turkey. The years 1998-2000
were the band's busiest, with close to 200 gigs a year, most
of them on the road. For Showtime, some of the most memorable
gigs were President Clinton's Inaugural parade and ball (1997),
opening for Sting (1997 and 2000) and playing at Dennis Rodman's
famous birthday party at Crobar (1996).
Showtime studied English
at the University of Illinois and received a master's degree
from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism,
culminating in editorial positions at DownBeat, Music Inc. and
Up Beat Daily magazines. He played trombone all along, juggling
gigs with blues, R&B, highlife and jazz bands and sitting in
at various Chicago jam sessions.
After leaving Liquid Soul,
Showtime formed his own soul-jazz combo, Soulio,
which is going strong in the Chicago area. He continues to perform
regularly with a wide variety of bands around Chicago.
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