Shelley Yoelin (tenor saxophone, clarinet and flute) is one of the original founding members of the band.  Formerly Chair of the Fine Arts Department and Director of Bands at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois, Shelley has been playing with Maxwell Street since 1983.  Shelley regularly performs in the Palm Springs area and was nominated in the Coachella Valley Weekly magazine for Best Jazz Instrumentalist.  He is a long time instructor at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop and with the International Federation of Jazz in London.  Shelley leads jazz bands in Chicago and Palm Springs, California.

Bartek graduated from the Music University in Lodz, Poland in 2002.  After playing clarinet and piano in the Sudecka Symphony in Wałbrzych, Bartek became entranced with klezmer music and founded the band “Klezmerado,” which entertained throughout Poland.  He has also played with Anashim (“The People”) in Poland and with “The Supertonic Orchestra” in Ireland.  As a conductor and composer, Bartek conducted two woodwind orchestras in Strzegom and Zarow, and composed music for a children’s theater in Walbrzych.  On his way to Chicago as an immigrant in 2018, Bartek performed on a Japanese cruise ship, and with the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Besides being Maxwell Street’s newest musician, he also plays in the Chicago City Wide Symphony Orchestra. 

Jeff has been playing with Maxwell Street since 1987. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and lives in Wisconsin. He has played and recorded since the 1960s with Balkan and other international music ensembles, and founded the group “Festival European.” Jeff is featured on three of Maxwell Street’s albums, and has performed twice with Maxwell Street in Europe.

Donald Jacobs has played with the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band from its founding.  Don recorded on three of Maxwell Street’s CDs, and performed with other Maxwell Street musicians in the first klezmer opera, The Property, in Lyric Opera of Chicago's production.  He has also arranged many pieces for the band. Don's touring career has included two trips to Jewish festivals in London, Vienna and Germany with Maxwell Street, three Danish tours, and many festivals in the U.S. and Canada.  He graduated cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, and has studied with clarinet masters Sid Beckerman, Richard Corpolongo, George Silfies and James Stoynoff.  Now a resident of Houston, Texas, Don is the assistant band director at Lanier Middle School.  He plays with “The Best Little Klezmer Band in Texas,” and also plays gypsy jazz and Balkan music. 

A native of Prague, Czech Republic, Ivo has played with Maxwell Street since 1993, including at Carnegie Hall and the Barbican Center in London, several European tours, and can be heard on three of the band's recordings.  Ivo's performance experience includes Ringling Bros/Barnum & Bailey Circus, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the Irving Symphony in Dallas, and cruise ships for both Carnival and Royal Cruise Lines.  In addition to performing, Ivo has taught music appreciation at Triton College as well as serving as the trumpet instructor for schools in the Chicagoland area. In his spare time, Ivo enjoys studying and performing improvisational comedy and is a graduate of both Second City's Training Center and the Improv Olympic Theater in Chicago.

Bob received his BA in Music Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Bob was honored as Best Soloist at the Governors State University Jazz Festival.  Bob has performed with Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, Mel Tormé, Cab Calloway, Sonny & Cher, Les Elgart, Roger Pauly, Jack Kramer, Anita O’Day, Si Zentner, Warren Covington, Pat Boone, Gloria Morgan, The Temptations, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.  Bob has played and recorded with Maxwell Street since 2007, and appears on two of their albums.  He also plays piano, string bass, and percussion.

A member of the band since 1998, Dana is in demand as a freelance musician and clinician.  As an educator, he serves as the band director at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  In addition to Maxwell Street, he has played with many legendary jazz musicians, and toured with the Guy Lombardo and Buddy Rich Orchestras, and has performed in a dozen different countries and nearly every state.  His own professional big band, The Dana Legg Stage Band, is entering its fourth decade, and can often be seen in the Chicago area or heard on jazz radio stations.

Howard Prager started playing piano when he was 7 and tuba at 11.  When he was 14 he started The Royal Blue Tinkertoy Dixieland Band, which continues to this day.  He studied music at VanderCook College of Music and Northwestern University during high school and college.  Howard has performed with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, on venues with Al Hirt and Jerry Lewis, toured Europe several times performing in England, France, Italy and Germany, and plays with virtuoso jazz clarinetist Doreen Ketchens and her band when he is in New Orleans.  Howard created Tubapalooza!, showcasing the tuba in various styles of music from classical to ensemble to klezmer and jazz, and in 2013-14 conducted the University of Notre Dame Tuba Ensemble.  He has been a member of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band since 2016.  Howard Prager is author of the popular book, Make Someone's Day: Becoming a Memorable Leader in Work and Life.  He provides many examples of how doing the right thing at the right time can greatly impact a person.  Playing for audiences with the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band is definitely one of the ways he can make someone's day for the band's many listeners and fans.

Dan Anderson’s interest in music emerged at the age of nine with the discovery of his uncle's trumpet in the attic.  Dan subsequently started playing the tuba in the fifth grade band and also enjoyed playing the baritone and trombone during his earlier years.  He studied further at the Interlochen Arts Academy, University of Illinois and Northwestern University. Before finishing college, Dan spent two years living in Germany. There, his freelance work took him from the Oktoberfest Bands to the Nuremberg Philharmonic. In addition to the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, he has played string bass with the Chicago Brass Quintet, Von Freeman Quintet and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble.  On occasion Dan is also a guest with the Chicago Symphony and many other musical organizations in Chicagoland.  He teaches jazz bass at Columbia College Chicago and tuba and euphonium at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.