Chase

Mentioning jazz-rock tends to evoke ensembles such as Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, and Weather Report, yet during the opening years of the 1970s a group named Chase matched their prominence and came close to dominating the national scene. For a stretch in 1971 the outfit achieved exactly that through a chart-topping single, a Grammy nomination, and strong showings in reader surveys. Trumpet virtuoso Bill Chase assembled the band in 1970, capitalizing on the growing audience appetite for jazz-rock fusion that Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears had already stirred. Although its origins extended to 1968, Chase arrived at the ideal juncture to convert that momentum into major commercial success via the hit single “Get It On” and the self-titled debut album released the same year.

Bill Chase, born William Edward Chiaiese on October 24, 1934, in Boston, Massachusetts, grew up in a musically inclined household; both sides of the family were involved in music, most notably on his mother’s, where one great-uncle had performed trumpet with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. As a youngster he studied violin and later joined the school band on percussion, but his true direction emerged in eleventh grade when he first took up the trumpet. He never reversed course, and the sole significant adjustment on his path to a professional career occurred around 1951 when, after attending a Stan Kenton concert and hearing Maynard Ferguson for the first time, he turned from classical music toward jazz. Chase subsequently enrolled at the Berklee School of Music, where he pursued both classical and jazz studies under instructors John Coffey and Herb Pomeroy.

Throughout the decade stretching from the mid-1950s into the mid-1960s he progressed from local Boston dance bands to associations with Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson, recording with the latter in the late 1950s and serving as featured soloist, writer, and arranger for Woody Herman’s Herd while appearing on its television broadcasts and recordings. He later settled in Las Vegas and was regularly called upon for appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. The idea for his own ensemble took shape in 1968 precisely when he began to tire of life as a star soloist and sought a fresh outlet for his compositions and performances. He started gathering musicians informally that year and assembled the nucleus of a stable group in 1969; the following year this unit solidified as Chase. Originally conceived as an instrumental ensemble, the project soon incorporated a vocalist and vocal arrangements to broaden its reach and appeal.

The personnel that recorded the first album, besides Bill Chase, included Jay Burrid on drums, Phil Porter on keyboards, Dennis Johnson on bass and vocals, John Palmer on guitar, Alan Ware, Jerry Van Blair, and Ted Piercefield on trumpet—the last two also contributing vocals—and Terry Richards handling lead vocals. All were highly skilled, yet the quartet of trumpets supplied the band’s signature edge and sonic identity. Signed to Epic Records, Chase ascended the charts in 1971 with “Get It On,” an original the musicians had refined through numerous earlier configurations, sometimes without lyrics, and which received heavy AM-radio exposure before reaching the number-one position. The debut album represented both the musical and commercial summit for the group: that same year Chase earned a Grammy nomination, Bill Chase finished second behind Frank Zappa in a poll of leading pop musicians, and Down Beat named the Chase LP the top pop album of 1971. Curiously, portions of that record recalled the late-1967 Al Kooper-era edition of Blood, Sweat & Tears, another outfit whose formation had likewise been spurred by admiration for Maynard Ferguson.

Live, Chase delivered even greater intensity, with accounts consistently noting a full commitment at every performance. Their forceful sets occasionally undermined their viability as openers, since the impact often overshadowed the headlining acts. International recognition followed as the band toured Europe, Africa, and Asia. In 1972 they completed a second album, Ennea; by then Gary Smith had replaced Jay Burrid on drums and G.G. Shinn had taken over lead vocals and trumpet duties from Terry Richards. Unfortunately, Bill Chase, who composed the new material, also lost critical favor, as reviewers responded less enthusiastically than they had to the debut. Additional difficulties emerged during the next twelve months, encompassing further personnel shifts and Bill Chase’s personal bankruptcy. He continued teaching and performing, yet the band suspended activity for several months.

Late in 1972 Bill Chase reconstituted the ensemble with fresh members, and throughout the ensuing year he cycled through numerous lineups under the Chase name in search of a sound that would satisfy both his artistic aims and public taste. A third album, Pure Music, appeared in 1973 with yet another configuration. By this point, however, the critical excitement that had surrounded the 1971 release had faded, and the new LP met with only tepid response, even as the group maintained a steady schedule of engagements.

On August 9, 1974, while en route by plane to a performance at the Jackson County Fair in Minnesota, Chase encountered severe weather; the crash claimed the lives of Bill Chase, band members Wally Yohn, John Emma, and Walter Clark, together with their two pilots. The loss reverberated through the jazz community, though within mainstream popular music—then increasingly shaped by arena-rock acts, the rising popularity of disco, and the emergence of punk—listeners with shorter memories soon overlooked Chase. A tribute album, Watch Closely Now, featuring surviving alumni and longtime colleagues of Bill Chase, was issued in 1977. In the late 1990s all three Chase albums were reissued on CD by the Collectables label.