THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Chicago were one of the first groups to perform at the Kennedy Center after it opened in September 1971. That historic concert has been newly remixed from the original multi-track tapes by founding member and trumpeter Lee Loughnane and engineer Tim Jessup.
This 26-track live collection was recorded on Sept. 16, 1971, about a week after the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened in the nation’s capital. For more than 50 years, the concert has remained unreleased except for the performance of Goodbye, which debuted in 2018 on Chicago: VI Decades Live. The album includes more than two hours of live music by Robert Lamm (keyboard, vocals), Terry Kath (guitar, vocals), Peter Cetera (vocals, bass), Danny Seraphine (drums), Loughnane (trumpet, vocals), James Pankow (trombone) and Walt Parazaider (woodwinds, vocals).
The show explores all three studio albums that Chicago had released since their 1969 debut. The songs span a range of styles, underscoring the band’s ability to blend genres seamlessly. There are rockers (25 Or 6 To 4 and I’m A Man), ballads (Colour My World and Beginnings), jazz-influenced tracks (Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?), and extended song suites (Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon and It Better End Soon).
The band would begin recording Chicago V a few days after the Kennedy Center performance. Released in July 1972, the album marked a significant evolution in the band’s sound and would become Chicago’s first No. 1 album. To get ready for the studio, Loughnane says the band road-tested some new songs in D.C. “Case in point: We did Saturday In The Park for the first time at the Kennedy Center show. You’ll notice that we hadn’t yet decided on who would sing the lead vocal. Also, Robert hadn’t written Part 2 of Dialogue yet.”
