how 'bout chicago, blood sweat and tears, tower of power?

[3650guy]

any takers?

chicago was a rock band trying to play jazz
blood sweat and tears was a jazz band trying to play rock
tower of power was well, trying to play white soul.
average white band - funk jazz naman  

anyway they all had/have a great horn section so pwede na rin siguro
sila dito sa jazz/blues cafe...

1.  Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4, Make me smile, Beginnings, Wishing you were
here, Happy Man, etc.  A very identifiable brass sound using only a 3 man
brass section.  I prefer the early sound of chicago instead of the late 80's
output they had when lots of personnel changes happened....
sure the ink they used for songwriting has already run out but who cares
their sound still prevails. siguro pwede narin yung Chicago Big Band album in which they reinvented jazz standards...

2. Blood Sweat and Tears - Spinning Wheel, God bless the child, You've made me so very happy, Roller Coaster, Sometimes in winter (my favorite actually). more elaborate horn arrangements used to greater effect....


listening to their songs today, warps me into some time zone of the early
70's when i was a kid of 12??? and tuned into RJ AM wherein they really played music that wasn't really played much from other stations...
(Shakti, Jean Luc Ponty, etc)
i never had any idea that one day i would end up as a musician...


3 and 4 I will reserve this for another posting.... or if someone wishes to do so please do so, incoherent na yata ako eh...

saka na na lang yung mga acid jazz/incognito/brand new heavies/liquid
soul etc.... iba nang thread yun...

[Boddhisattva]

Grew up with Chicago. I still remember their TV special capped by a concert. That was when Terry Kath was still alive and the drummer was still Danny Seraphine. Their double album was great esp. the non-stop side started with Make Me Smile and ended with Make Me Smile again (More Than Ever). I stopped listening to Chicago after the classic If You Leave Me Now.

BST's Lucretia McEvil is one favorite of mine (pwede i jam - hint)

[Tarkuz Toccata]

During the 70s, I played my brother's 1969 double album The Chicago Transit Authority vinyl record till I worn out our turntable's stylus.



This is the first album by Chicago.

My favorites:

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Questions 67 & 68
Beginnings
Introduction
Free Form Guitar
[/list:u]

[markthevirtuoso]

Chicago is one hell of a group. Hanep.

"we're a rock n roll band with horns and trumpets" ika nga nila. Pero most likely jazz is happening on their stance already.

My napanood akong live LD nila dati. Galing nung bagong gitarista. Dawayne Bailey ba yun? Ganda nung solo sa 25 or 6 to 4. Nalimutan ko pangalan eh. hehe

Sa Tower of Power do ko pa sila talaga naririnig. Any song or album to recommend?

[Tarkuz Toccata]

Sa Tower of Power do ko pa sila talaga naririnig. Any song or album to recommend?

Mga paborito ko:

Sparkling In The Sand
You're Still A Young Man
Clever Girl
So Very Hard To Go
Don't Change Horses (In The Middle of A Stream)
Below Us, All the City Lights[/list:u]

[Boddhisattva]

There are at least 3 live concert videos I have seen, one of them even with Earth Wind and Fire (they also played EWF songs and vice versa).  Is the one you've seen with the bandana'd rocker guitarist? Yes he's Bailey. He's not with the group anymore. The new one is younger and clean-looking. Chicago is composed of:
Robert Lamm - keys - original
Walter Parazaider - sax/flute - original
Lee Loughnane - trumpet - original
James Pankow - trombone -original
Jason Scheff - bass -20 years (original was Peter Cetera)
Tris Imboden - drums - 15 years (original was Danny Seraphine)
Bill Champlin - keys - 25 years
Keith Howland - guitars - 11 years (original was Terry Kath who died in a gun accident)

[Deacon Blues]

Too bad I don't know much about them ... 'Di ko na naabutan yan eh ...  

Though I must admit to taking renewed interest in BST coz of Prestia's famous bass line in 'What is Hip?' ...

[Boddhisattva]

[/quote]
Mga paborito ko:

Sparkling In The Sand
You're Still A Young Man
Clever Girl
So Very Hard To Go
Don't Change Horses (In The Middle of A Stream)
Below Us, All the City Lights[/list:u][/quote]

I remember the time Ugoy-Ugoy was playing at the Music Hall and Rodel Gonzales (formerly of Side A) was there in the audience. They invited him to sing and he sang a hearty rendition of So Very Hard to Go. Since then, this song became a favorite of mine.

[Chito]

Grew up with these bands too. Specially Chicago Transit Authority. I was a big fan of Tower of Power too. And BST! I think I saw them twice in Manila. Brings back lots of memories actually. hahaha

[3650guy]

....to continue to Tower of Power...

Now this group is really horn oriented.   even if you take out the guitar and keyboard player they still sound solid. the way dave garibaldi and rocco prestia mesh together in the same way as nile rodgers and bernard edwards generated the grooves for Chic. this band has changed members
several times but with the initial core of emilio castillo, stephen kupka and rocco prestia the sound is pretty much the same except sometimes for the use of drum loops, heavier drum grooves and songwriting input from others.

1
Vintage tower of power: You're still a young man, What is Hip?, Sparkling in the sand (pogi jazz),Squibcakes, Soul Vacination, Don't change horses,

the newer sound: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, Souled out, Soul with a capital S, Diggin' on James Brown, Sexy Soul,

Rocco Prestia is totally in a class of his own. his bass lines are best felt
rather than heard.  totally unobtrusive and sometimes buried in the mix,
you know this guy is very busy. saying "Hey I'm taking the road less travelled, and I'll see you guys at the end".

one the things I like in "So far very hard to go" are those little blues licks
that are fingerpicked during the 2 first stanzas..  

video's of this group are very rare, but there's this dvd recorded at germany where in you get to see this classic group in action.
sad to say wala yung pogi hits (he he he) pero enough to give you a visual taste of how a well-oiled horn section sounds like.

Average WhiTe Band and the Southside movement naman.

AWB's one hit is "pickup up the pieces" along with "Cut the cake" along
also with "Work to do". a british group of white guys also.  yup they
faded into the 80's.  but "Pickup the pieces" is still a funk groove that was
reworked by the Buddy Rich big band (Burnin' for Buddy) and also that  
dutch sax sex siren Candy Dulfer.  yeah it's great for jamming also since
it has about 3 chords...

Southside movement.  a couple of afro-americans whose one hit was "Everlasting Thrill"  and also they did a cover of what else?  Pickup the pieces and also Stevie Wonder's ultrafunk hit "Superstition"
horn arrangements were oks lang (as if me alam ako sa ganito)

hopefully someone can relate to all this stuff....
i'm still racking my brain for brass / horn oriented stuff...

hhhmmmm The Brass Ring's "The Disadvantages of you" better known
as the Philipp Morris song or La LA LA LA......

next topic : Is Candy Dulfer a legit jazz performer? nevermind...

edit: just checked at amazon.  Southside movement's instrumental
hit was "mud wind"  'Everlasting thrill" was a song.

[vegetablejoe]

Anyone remember Cold Blood?

Now that was blues w/ brass! My my, the vocalist, Lydia Pense, sure had a voice, and much more pleasant as eye candy than Janis Joplin.

Turn up your stereo system's volume and bass controls to "when no one else is home" and put this LP / CD on.... whew! fantastic way to wake up your day! You'll be singing along before you know it.

They didn't incorporate any 'lead guitar hero' style playing into their songs, but the rhythm playing is a quirky in-and-out, but pleasant listen.

[vegetablejoe]

I got to watch BS&T when they played at the Araneta Coliseum, decades ago... even scrambled down from the cheap seats (a 10 ft. jump from Upper Balcony?) when the band asked people to come down to the half-empty space in front of the stage.

This was the "harder-rocking" BS&T unit with vocalist Jerry Fischer (after the guy with the pogi vocals - David Clayton Thomas - had left the first time) and guitarist George Wadenius...

...and the ladies were swooning over the handsome (original) drummer (I hope i'll remember his name after a few jolts of coffee) instead of listening to the music!

[3650guy]

this was the lineup for the "Child is Father to Man" album

Al Kooper:  Organ, Piano, Ondioline, and Vocals
Steve Katz:  Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lute, and Vocals
Bobby Colomby:  Drums, Vocals
Jim Fielder:  Fender Bass
Fred Lipsius:  Alto Sax, Piano, and Good Judgement
Randy Brecker:  Trumpet and Fluegelhorn
Jerry Weiss:  Trumpet and Fluegelhorn
[sausage] Halligan:  Trombone

Al Kooper had a falling out with the group and quit after this album,
Bobby Colomby also had a falling out after a couple of albums, and
left to become a record producer..

[psychic_sushi]

Chicago is way cool! I can recall hearing "25 or 6 to 4" for the first time on cd (I mentioned CD, just to put the era in perspective, heheheh)... loved it! my dad would always have stuff like that blasting in the house. the wah-wah guitar solo freaked me out! psychedelic lines over a horn section...

blood, sweat and tears! everything they did was memorable. but in particular, i love the tune "going down gambling". really rocking! was one of the first songs i taught myself to play when i picked up the guitar. even the solo i pushed under my fingers, clueless to what scales were! the power of a great tune to pull you in

[3650guy]

BST's Lucretia McEvil is one favorite of mine (pwede i jam - hint)

sige ka I also have a BST transcription  and this is included.

eto yata yung kinakanta ng singer ng John y Cash...

but for me it's still "Sometimes in winter"

intro with flute and muted trumpets, enter tenor voice

sometimes in winter
i gaze into the streets and walk through snow and city street behind your room
sometimes in winter
forgotten memories remember you behind the trees with leaves that cried

another verse then bridge then subdued flute solo, then a recap..
ayun a lot of things said in 3minutes

the lyrics and arrangement convey this image of a dude (probably a
musician he he) walking down the cold streets in a city, probably "nag
mumuni" not giving away the status of his relationship with his
girlfriend but probably in a pensive mood.   having a "moment".

-nope they don't make songs like this anymore.

[markthevirtuoso]

Di ko alam, nag-concert pala dito yung AWB neto lang. Sayang  

[Chito]

I got to watch BS&T when they played at the Araneta Coliseum, decades ago... even scrambled down from the cheap seats (a 10 ft. jump from Upper Balcony?) when the band asked people to come down to the half-empty space in front of the stage.

This was the "harder-rocking" BS&T unit with vocalist Jerry Fischer (after the guy with the pogi vocals - David Clayton Thomas - had left the first time) and guitarist George Wadenius...

...and the ladies were swooning over the handsome (original) drummer (I hope i'll remember his name after a few jolts of coffee) instead of listening to the music!

We must've been in the same concert! That surely is a while back. 3 decades ago maybe?

[vegetablejoe]

...
We must've been in the same concert! That surely is a while back. 3 decades ago maybe?

Yes Chito, 3 decades ago! And Deacon Blues says he doesn't know these bands! He makes me feel so old! Arrrrggghhh!  

[Deacon Blues]

Hahaha ... chill bro ...

What I actually meant was .. I wasn't that 'informed' about those groups yet .. I remember watching some videos of Chicago on TV at a time when MTV wasn't even born yet ... geez, how's that for 'old?'  

But I didn't really know about BST coming over and playing at the Araneta, honest ..

I was aware, however, of the Clapton concert in '79 at the same venue. Too bad I wasn't able to watch that too ..

[vegetablejoe]

ah. I missed Clapton too. That was the time I got busy dating my wife-to-be and so had to steep myself in and crossover into the pogi jazz genre... still, catching the Clarke-Duke Project and Seawind wasn't bad.

oops, sori mr. 3650guy, OT na po ako... back to horns, blues and jazz programming!

I stopped listening to Chicago after their 4th album... coz for the life of me I couldn't make kapa any of the effin chords of their complicated songs... and so I went back to listening to the gods of 3-chord rock n roll and blues.  

[Chito]

More OT. I was there at the Clapton Concert. We were on the floor, but Eric asked everyone to get the chairs closer and asked everyone to come down from the other sections. It was also during the height of martial law so the concert was a bit "tamer" than it would've probably have been.

As for the age thing, I'm beginning to think that I'm probably one of the oldest guys around here.    

I didn't get to see Clark-Duke and Seawind. Deodato's the one that I can remember with his amazing guitar player, JohnTropea. And I also saw Tom Scott, which if I remember right had Steve Gadd playing the drums that night.

[pinoymusika]

More OT. I was there at the Clapton Concert. We were on the floor, but Eric asked everyone to get the chairs closer and asked everyone to come down from the other sections. It was also during the height of martial law so the concert was a bit "tamer" than it would've probably have been.

I read an excerpt from Sampaguita's memoirs in the Inquirer. She was the opening act for Clapton. According to her she spent the night with Clapton the night before. Her husband at the time (Gary Perez?) was fuming mad, so he didn't play too well that night.

[3650guy]

As for the age thing, I'm beginning to think that I'm probably one of the oldest guys around here.    

i'm in my mid forties and i still love the old stuff, so you are in good company


Sampaguita's opening song was their version of the animals "Don't let me
be misunderstood.  saw the concert on TV, and it is said the Gary Perez gave
Clapton a banduria off stage...

please you can OT all you want as long as relevant pa naman ata eh

[Deacon Blues]

So, is there any truth to the rumor that Cowboy is Clapton's son? ...

[3650guy]

bakit tisoy di naman si nilo santos....


by the way I liked to mention that Earth Wind and Fire had also an excellent
horn section and the way they reworked "Got to get you into my life" was truly reinventing a beatles classic with an excellent guitar solo. also hits like
"Getaway" "In the Stone" really merit serious listening....