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Among the many worthy bands that have been eligible for years for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Chicago was finally nominated in December. The news was a surprise for Chicago’s founding trumpet player, Lee Loughnane.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he says. “We kept working and each year there would be a bit of a groundswell and uproar when we didn’t get nominated. We won the popular vote with over 37 million votes, and that was very gratifying to know that many fans are still in our corner.”
With record sales topping 100 million, including 21 Top 10 singles, five consecutive No. 1 albums and five No. 1 singles, Chicago is one of the longest-running and most successful U.S. rock groups, second only to the Beach Boys in terms of singles and album sales.
Captivating audiences since forming in 1967, the group’s many hits include “25 or 6 to 4,” “Beginnings,” “Saturday in the Park,” “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” “Baby, What a Big Surprise,” “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “Wishing You Were Here.”
Besides Loughnane, Chicago features fellow founding members keyboardist/vocalist Robert Lamm, trombonist James Pankow and woodwinds player Walt Parazaider, with newer members Jason Scheff on bass and vocals, drummer Tris Imboden, guitarist Keith Howland, keyboardist Lou Pardini and percussionist Walfredo Reyes Jr.
After 48 years of touring and recording, Chicago is not a band to just rest on its laurels. Last year the group released “Chicago Now: XXXVI,” its first batch of new studio material since 2006. It’s an excellent album with a number of songs that recall their great hits of the past.
ClassicRock Revisited praised: “This is a return to their horn-soaked soulful sound of the early 1970s that made them international rock stars.” While Allmusic noted the album’s songs are “big, smooth, cheerful and bright, emphasizing melody over instrumental interplay, explicitly evoking the past without re-creating it.”
A couple of the more up-tempo songs like the opening title track and “Free at Last” are especially appealing. “Now” sounds like a horn-driven soul classic that Earth, Wind & Fire might have recorded.
“Jason (Scheff) was the co-composer on that song, and he had an Earth, Wind & Fire/Chicago combination in mind, like the two bands would record the song,” Loughnane explains. “It never happened, so we recorded it instead.”
Stretching musically, they edge into trance dance territory with the Middle Eastern-flavored “Naked in the Garden of Allah,” and the funky “Another Trippy Day” has an infectious Steely Dan-style groove.
Other notable songs on the album include Loughnane’s composition “America,” which calls for a general populist awakening.
“I was talking with my wife about the state of the world,” he explains. “It hit me that it is up to each one of us to stand up and make our voices heard. A grass-roots groundswell can make changes. So it was my shout-out to America to remind us.”
The rich musical heritage of the city that gave the band its name influenced Chicago’s unique, horn-propelled rock sound.
“Initially, we were thinking of being a Vegas show band and it quickly expanded from that,” Loughnane notes. “By growing up in Chicago, we were exposed to all kinds of different music from classical and blues and jazz to rock ‘n’ roll.”
From their earliest days, they were known for recording lengthy songs that often necessitated releasing double albums. Their experimental, double debut, “Chicago Transit Authority,” became an underground radio hit first and by the end of 1972, it had remained on the charts for 148 weeks, making it the longest-running album by a rock group up to that time.
With the release of its second album in 1970, featuring the hits “25 or 6 to 4” and “Make Me Smile,” the band was off on a run that was remarkable for its musical and commercial success. “We knew we would have a first album and possibly a second, but we had no idea it would go from three to 36,” Loughnane says.
By the mid-’70s, they began releasing a series of popular romantic ballads featuring vocalist Peter Cetera. The hits continued through the 1980s with “Chicago 17,” released in 1984, selling more than 6 million copies. When Cetera left in 1985, Scheff stepped in as a replacement.
In 1995, Chicago released a unique album of standards, “Night & Day,” featuring classics associated with Glenn Miller, Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. The jazz legend had encouraged the musicians back in the ’70s, when he invited them to perform on his TV special.
Into the 21st century, a new deal with Rhino Records led to a platinum-selling 39-song collection, “The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning,” and a comprehensive five-CD box set.
Now they are looking forward to the release of a new documentary on the band, “Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago,” which will be premiered at the Sedona International Film Festival next month.
“Lou Pardini’s nephew, Peter Pardini, has been working on it for a few years,” Loughnane reports.
If there’s any special secret to the band’s longevity, Loughnane suggests: “The music has lasted the test of time and the fans keep wanting to hear it. So the onus is on us to make sure they sound like we’re playing those songs for the first time, and they’re intricate enough that you have to keep your chops up to make them sound good. And we get along well enough to stay on the road without breaking up. It’s a whole maze of puzzle pieces that keeps it together.”
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The Maui Pops Orchestra will present its annual Broadway spectacular Sunday, featuring soloists Julia Murney and Emily Rozek, with guest conductor Randall Fleischer. The concert will include well-known selections from “Carmen,” “My Fair Lady,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Titanic” and more.
Murney last appeared on Broadway as Elphaba in “Wicked,” after playing the role on the national tour for which she received an Acclaim Award. Her other New York credits include “Lennon,” Andrew Lippa’s “The Wild Party” (Drama Desk nomination), “Falling” (Drama Desk nomination), “The Vagina Monologues” and “A Class Act.” Among her TV credits, she has appeared in “30 Rock,” “Sex and the City,” “Brothers & Sisters” and “Law & Order.”
Rozek was most recently seen starring as Glinda in the Broadway hit “Wicked.” She made her professional debut as the principal role of Winnie Tate in “Annie Get Your Gun” starring Bernadette Peters, and she has been on a number of national Broadway tours including “Sunset Boulevard” and “South Pacific.”
Guest conductor Fleischer has appeared with many major orchestras in the United States and internationally including engagements with the Boston Pops, China Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Besides the classical world, since the late 1980s, he has worked with rock artists such as John Densmore of the Doors, Natalie Merchant, Blondie and John Cale of the Velvet Underground.
* “Broadway Diva Pops” will be presented at 3 p.m. Sunday in the MACC’s Castle Theater. Tickets are $15, $30, $40 and $50, and half-price for students 18 and young (plus applicable fees), and are available the box office, by calling 242-7469 or online at www.mauiarts.org.
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Tonight at 6:30, you can catch Amy Hanaiali’i in a special show of music, food and wine at the King Kamehameha Golf Club’s Waikapu Ballroom. Hanaiali’i recently released the romantic album “Chardonnay” in conjunction with her own wine label. She will also perform in the Waikapu Ballroom on Feb. 11 and March 3.
* General admission for tonight’s performance includes buffet dinner and show. A VIP “meet and greet” includes a copy of her new CD, pupus, two glasses of wine and preferred seating for the dinner show. Dinner and show costs $60, and VIP access is $100. For reservations, call 243-1025.
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The David Nelson Band returns to Maui to play the McCoy Studio Theater at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at Da Warehouse in Wailuku at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
A longtime Jerry Garcia collaborator and founding member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Nelson and his band released “Once in a Blue Moon” in 2014 celebrating their 20th anniversary. The David Nelson Band includes veteran musicians Pete Sears, John Molo, Barry Sless and Mookie Siegel.
* Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 the day of the show for both concerts. Tickets for the MACC show are available at www.mauiarts.org. For more information on the Wailuku show, visit www.nelsonband.com. A Sunday concert on Lanai is sold out.