Chicago, “String of Pearls” from ‘Night & Day: Big Band’ (1995): Saturdays in the Park
The obscure bonus track “String of Pearls” was yet another line item on a long list of missed opportunities for Chicago.
The obscure bonus track “String of Pearls” was yet another line item on a long list of missed opportunities for Chicago.
Closing ‘Night and Day: Big Band’ triumphantly, “Take the ‘A’ Train” makes me wish Chicago had included more big-band covers on their earlier albums.
Chicago’s update of the Duke Ellington classic “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” is fun and lively, but could have been so much more.
This cover of “In the Mood” is one of the few times that the later edition of Chicago sounded like they were truly enjoying themselves.
On an album that I often overlook, this update of a Duke Ellington standard is one that I never do. “Sophisticated Lady” sounded like a ’90s Chicago song.
Usually, “Sing, Sing, Sing” is played in a show-off arrangement to spotlight how fast a group can play together, but Chicago takes a different approach.
Chicago’s terrific update of “Blues In the Night” is proof that artists don’t have to write their own material to offer originality and eclecticism.
This beautiful Cole Porter update finds Chicago’s Jason Scheff singing with so much passion that you’d think he wrote it.
Chicago reimagines a classic with a completely different tone and color, rather than merely rehashing a dime-a-dozen cover from the swing era.
The frustrating part about Chicago’s underrated ‘Night & Day: Big Band’ is that not many people – even long-term fans – ever heard it.