In 1971 a new jazz-rock band burst on the music scene with the top ten hit. Get It On spent thirteen weeks on the Billboard charts and became a gold selling album, a rare occurrence by jazz-rock acts in the 1970s.
Bill Chase grew up playing the trumpet in school and became a fan of jazz greats Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson. He later played for lead trumpet with Ferguson and Kenton as well as with Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd.
In 1970 Chase joined up with three more additional veteran jazz trumpeters. The uniqueness of this band is that Chase then mixed this jazz-foursome up with a rock ‘n roll rhythm section of guitar, keyboards bass and percussion. Once this group was assembled the search for a vocalist began and in late ’70 singer Terry Richards was brought on board. Chase, the band, was born.
Chase were unique for its time. Groups in the early ‘70s tended to have either a jazz or rock focus, but this band had both. With the jazz chops of the four horn players and the hard-charging rock rhythm section they chose a decidedly up beat rock ‘n roll sound. Richard’s gravely vocalists gave the jazzy group an edgy sound that complemented the horns and rhythm section. Another rock jazz band at the time, Blood, Sweat & Tears, had a similar focus but tended to have an overall smoother and more mellow sound.
This first album was certainly driven by the hit Get It On but the remainder of side one is made up of songs that were more instrumental and showed off the chops of the various horn players. Side two of the vinyl album is made up of the fourteen-minute opus ‘Invitation To A River’. Made up of five chapters, ITAR shows off the trumpet skills of the band. There are parts of side two in which the jazz section ‘echos’ there notes and sound. You’d swear they were done by remixing but these sounds were all done live.
Ennea
After selling 500,000 copies of their first album, Bill Chase and the band released two more albums, Ennea and Pure Music. 1972s Ennea shifted away from the horn-heavy sound and featured another suite on side two based on Greek Mythology. While Ennea sold well it did not meet expectations.
Pure Music
Pure Music kept the spotlight on the same horn section but the backup members changed and a more jazz-focused sound emerged. Pure Music sold well, supported by both jazz and rock audiences.
The life of Chase was brief both as a person and a band. In 1974, while traveling to a live performance, Bill Chase, band members and some friends were killed in a plane crash in Minnesota.