#jeff coffey

[yourdailyqueer]

King Coffey (Jeffrey Coffey)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

DOB: Born 1964

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Musician

[krispyweiss]

Chicago Welcoming Original Members Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine Back to the Band

CHICAGO (THE CITY) (SB) - Roiled by recent personel changes that saw longtime drummer Tris Imboden and new-kid bassist Jeff Coffey quitting the band on consecutive days, Chicago announced founding bassist Peter Cetera and charter drummer Danny Seraphine are rejoining the group.

The latest lineup change comes after Chicago fans expressed dissatisfaction with new members Daniel de los Reyes (percussion), Neil Donell (vocals) and Brett Simons (bass). Current drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr. will return to percussion to make room for Seraphine, who was fired in 1990, and Cetera will pick up where he left off when he quit in 1985.

”With Danny and Peter coming home, we’re as complete as we can be without (late founding guitarist) Terry (Kath),” Robert Lamm, James Pankow and Lee Loughnane said in a statement released by AllFourOne, a new management company representing the reunited original band members.

The band also announced it’s scrubbed its planned summer dates with REO Speedwagon to play shows focusing on its 1971, four-LP set, Live at Carnegie Hall.

”This is a dream come true,” Seraphine, who’d long lobbied to get his old job back, wrote on MySpace. “I can’t wait to go back to Chicago again.”

Cetera, who’s had virtually nothing to do with the band since his resignation, was tepid and still demanding, writing on Google+: “I’ll quit again if we don’t play ‘Glory of Love’ and ‘Love Me Tomorrow’ every night.”

4/1/18

[krispyweiss]

The Peanuts Gang Do “25 or 6 to 4”

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight the part of Terry Kath will be played not by Keith Howland, but by Charlie Brown.

With that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, Sound Bites’ four readers can dive into a new YouTube video featuring the Peanuts gang performing Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4.”

And in doing so, it’s immediately apparent that good ol’ Charlie Brown is one hell of a fake guitar player.

And Linus Van Pelt as Peter Cetera?

He should give lip-synch lessons to Mariah Carey and Garth Brooks before they try to fake it on TV again.

Pigpen pulls double duty on bass and drums, replaced in some scenes by Franklin on the kit and by Snoopy on the bass, which raises the following:

Question 67: Is Pigpen portraying Cetera or Jeff Coffey? (67-A: Is Snoopy Jason Scheff?)

Question 68: Is Pigpen Danny Seraphine and is Franklin - who joined the strip later - Tris Imboden?

I’d like to know, can you tell me? Please don’t tell me. It really doesn’t matter anyhow.

12/6/17

[krispyweiss]

Song Review(s): Chicago and the Norte Dame Marching Band - “25 or 6 to 4,” “Saturday in the Park” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?” (Live, Oct. 21, 2017)

Chicago teamed up with the Norte Dame Marching Band for a mini-concert before the ND-USC football game on Saturday.

The show consisted of truncated, big-band arrangements of “25 or 6 to 4,” “Saturday in the Park,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?” and “Look Away,” which represents the nadir of the band’s schlocky, 1980s era and shall not cross Sound Bites’ ears unless he is attending a Chicago concert - which he’s done at least 12 times since 1982 - and is unable to escape it.

Though the idea was first executed by Fleetwood Mac and USC’s band for “Tusk,” virtually all of Chicago’s music is ideally suited for the marching-band treatment and these performances are fun to listen to even with their attendant flaws.

The biggest is vocalist/keyboardist Robert Lamm’s inability to reach the range required for a successful rendition of “Saturday in the Park,” which mars the song for those of us listening after the fact, although it was undoubtedly enjoyable in person. Fortunately, Lamm fares better on “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?,” on which the marching band was underutilized, and these shortcomings render the two numbers relatively weak.

“Look Away” was assuredly worse, but Sound Bites’ll never know because he refused to listen.

The best of the bunch was “25 or 6 to 4,” above, which featured the college band blasting away mightily and guitarist Keith Howland, who bears the unfortunate burden of standing in for Terry Kath, bright-green kicks notwithstanding, reeling off a nice guitar solo as bassist Jeff Coffey - and not Lamm, as the emcee, who also botched the song’s title, incorrectly announced - recreated Peter Cetera’s lead vocal more convincingly than Jason Scheff ever did.

The short show came before the groups, who’ve collaborated in the past, got together again to perform “25 or 6 to 4″ at halftime, a performance not yet available on YouTube. It occurred on the 71st birthday of trumpeter Lee Loughnane, one the band’s three remaining original members, along with Lamm and trombonist James Pankow.

For the sports fans out there, Notre Dame pummeled USC by a score of 49 to 10 plus 4.

Grade card: Chicago and the Norte Dame Marching Band - “25 or 6 to 4,” “Saturday in the Park” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?” - B/C-/C+

Hear “Saturday in the Park” here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jcXuOjaLOT4 

Hear “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?” here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gQnALfVsPbg

10/22/17

[krispyweiss]

Movie Review: “Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago” Directed by Peter Pardini and produced by and starring most of the surviving original band members, “Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago” comes off as more of a vanity project than a film designed to help place the self-proclaimed “rock band with horns” into proper historical context. As it goes, guitarist Terry Kath - the man who Jimi Hendrix reportedly said was “better than me” - looms large over the film. More than half of its 90 minutes is devoted to his time in the group - from their 1967 inception as Chicago Transit Authority to Kath’s accidental death by a self-inflicted gun shot to the head in 1978. Trumpeter Lee Loughnane breaks down in tears talking about Kath’s death and keyboardist Robert Lamm says that even nearly 40 years after the fact, “I’m still working through losing Terry.” Guitarist Chris Pinnick, who replaced Kath’s original replacement, Donnie Dacus, and played with Chicago from 1979 to 1986, is still in awe of Kath’s talent and presence. “There’s no touching Terry Kath,” Pinnick said. “I knew that - everyone should know that.” In a nod to the group’s habit of giving its albums Roman numerals for titles, the film in broken into segments with Roman numerals and song titles and/or lyrics as subtitles. This is a fun twist that fans of the band will enjoy, but - given the references to obscure songs such as “Introduction” and “When All the Laughter Dies in Sorrow” - will be lost on casual followers. This lack of context is a problem that plagues the entire film as newer members - Chicago has experienced a revolving door of players since drummer Danny Seraphine, who plays a key role in the movie and was fired in 1990 - appear in interview segments with no information about when they arrived on the scene or whom they replaced. Percussionists Laudir de Oliveria (1975-1982) and Walfredo Reyes Jr. (who joined in 2012) make appearances in concert and home-shot footage, but are never mentioned by name. Original bassist Peter Cetera, the impetuous behind the band’s move toward schlock rock who quit in 1985, and multi-instrumentalist Bill Champlin (1981-2009) refused to participate. As such, fans are left with the story as told mostly by Seraphine, Loughnane, Lamm, Walter Parazaider (woodwinds), James Pankow (trombone) and producer David Foster, who helped coronate Cetera as the band’s leader and purveyor of goopy love songs. It’s interesting to hear band members denigrate the direction Cetera and Foster took the band, even as they continue to play the songs the pair co-wrote in concert. The principals seem to have gotten bored about two-thirds of the way through, as the years 1990 to 2014 are raced through with a series of photos presented over footage of a Reyes/Tris Imboden drum duet that makes viewers wonder why they even bothered to look at the contemporary version of the band, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017. Filmmakers also unwisely shot recreations seeking to illustrate moments such as Pankow writing “Just You ‘N’ Me” after a fight with his fiancé and recurring images of the back of an actor’s head that are supposed to represent Kath on stage and shredding. These amateurish moments are hokey and come dangerously close to true-crime parody. The film ends with the band’s long-overdue induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 and makes no mention of bassist Jason Scheff’s departure more than 30 years after replacing Cetera, who skipped the induction. There are no outside musicians or rock journalists interviewed to give perspective on Chicago’s role in influencing newer bands and/or changing rock ‘n’ roll in general. This is a basic - and essential - component in documentary filmmaking that helps put the subject in proper perspective and it’s conspicuously absent from “Now More Than Ever.” That makes “The History of Chicago” less a history and more an insider’s view on how the players saw and heard the band. It might be interesting for folks who’ve stuck with the group through thick and thin, but it will not be successful in painting an accurate picture for casual followers who mistakenly - but understandably - think of Chicago as nothing more than a adult-contemporary juggernaut. The film was unveiled at the 2016 Sedona International Film Festival and made its debut on CNN New Year’s Day. Grade card: “Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago” - C 1-2-17

[jeffcbliss]

Jeff Coffey (playing with Chicago) - Concord Pavilion; Concord, CA (6-7-17). @JeffCoffeyMusic @chicagotheband

Photo: Jeff Bliss

[jeffcbliss]

Jeff Coffey (playing with Chicago) - Concord Pavilion; Concord, CA (6-7-17). @JeffCoffeyMusic

Photo: Jeff Bliss

[jeffcbliss]

James Pankow (left) and Jeff Coffey of Chicago - Concord Pavilion; Concord, CA (6-7-17).

Photo: Jeff Bliss