Johnny Showtime, Trombone
Johnny Showtime (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 beefy, hard-swinging style that straddles the line between old-school funk and modern jazz, Showtime has a way of making audiences listen.
Showtime is well known for his trombone work in Liquid Soul, in which he played 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.
After leaving Liquid Soul, Showtime formed his own soul-jazz combo, Soulio, in 2004. He produced Soulio’s first CD in 2007 and continues to gig with the band in and around Chicago. Besides playing in Soulio and Skip Towne and the Greyhounds, Johnny Showtime continues to perform regularly with a variety of Chicago bands, such as the Larry King Orchestra and Tributosaurus.
