Editing Chicago (band) (section)

=== Style ===
[[File:Chicago performing at Caesars Windsor, 2024-11-09 34.jpg|left|thumb|Chicago's horn section, 2024 (left to right: James Pankow, Ray Herrmann, Lee Loughnane)]]
During his discussion of the formation of the band, original drummer Danny Seraphine says he wanted to form a group of talented, skilled musicians, with a horn section, "that could play an inventive mix of rock and jazz."<ref name="Seraphine" />{{rp|47–49}} Walter Parazaider told writer, Paul Elliott, "My idea was to make horns an integral part of a rock band."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Elliott |first=Paul |date=February 20, 2015 |title=The Real Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame: Chicago Q&A |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-real-rock-rollhall-of-fame-chicago-q-a |journal=Classic Rock |publisher=Future Publishing Limited Quay House |access-date=April 24, 2023 |archive-date=April 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424205552/https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-real-rock-rollhall-of-fame-chicago-q-a |url-status=live }}</ref> According to James Pankow, Chicago set out to be "basically" a rock and roll band with a horn section.<ref name=":8" />  Robert Lamm credits Walter Parazaider and Terry Kath for having the vision of "a rock band with expanded instrumentation."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kawashima |first=Dale |date=March 6, 2017 |title=Robert Lamm Of Chicago - Writing The Band's Classic Hit Songs |url=https://www.songwriteruniverse.com/robert-lamm-chicago-2017.htm |access-date=April 24, 2023 |website=www.songwriteruniverse.com |language=en-US |archive-date=April 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424200204/https://www.songwriteruniverse.com/robert-lamm-chicago-2017.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Peter Robb wrote, "The guys had all been influenced by show bands that would come into Chicago playing a variety of music. Those bands always had tenor sax, trumpet and trombone, Loughnane said."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robb |first=Peter |date=February 25, 2014 |title=Chicago: A band with brass |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/music/chicago-a-band-with-brass |access-date=April 29, 2023 |website=ottawacitizen |language=en-CA |archive-date=October 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025023756/https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/music/chicago-a-band-with-brass |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the occasion of the band's 50th anniversary, Bobby Olivier, writing for ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', described its style as "chameleonic{{nbsp}}... shifting from esoteric jazz-rock, funk and soul to {{nbsp}}... adult contemporary{{nbsp}}...".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Olivier |first=Bobby |date=April 25, 2019 |title=The 50 Best Chicago Songs: Critics' Picks |language=en-US |magazine=Billboard |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/50-best-chicago-songs-critics-picks-8508545/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813210711/https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/50-best-chicago-songs-critics-picks-8508545/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a piece for ''[[Townsquare Media|Ultimate Classic Rock]]'', writer Jeff Giles details the band's journey from being a "progressive-leaning rock band with horns" in its earlier years to "an adult contemporary act" by the end of the 1980s "in order to stay commercially relevant."<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Giles |first=Jeff |date=November 16, 2016 |title=How Chicago Survived the '80s |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/chicago-80s/ |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |language=en |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428122147/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/chicago-80s/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a 2021 interview published in ''[[Prog (magazine)|Prog]]'', Robert Lamm asserts that Chicago is and always has been a progressive rock band and that they were particularly influenced by [[Yes (band)|Yes]] and [[King Crimson]] to write and record their lengthier tracks. In his view, the hit songs on their albums satisfied the record companies and allowed the band more freedom on the rest of the recorded material. As musicians, the group has always "felt blessed enough to try anything at any time."<ref name="ProgMagazine">{{cite web |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/chicago-prog-jazz-rock-or-aor-the-truth-was-a-mix-of-all-three |title=Chicago: prog, jazz rock or AOR? The truth was a mix of all three! |author=Malcolm Dome |publisher=Future Publishing Limited Quay House |website=Prog on loudersound.com  |date=January 23, 2021 |access-date=June 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425234703/https://www.loudersound.com/features/chicago-prog-jazz-rock-or-aor-the-truth-was-a-mix-of-all-three|url-status=live|language=en-US }}</ref>

Chicago was deeply influenced by jazz, which culminated on their seventh album.<ref name="ProgMagazine"/> Trumpeter Lee Loughnane holds that the term "jazz rock" was invented because of Chicago's music.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Runnells |first=Charles |date=October 26, 2017 |title=Chicago brings the horns and the hits to Fort Myers for first big concert at Suncoast Arena |url=https://www.news-press.com/story/entertainment/2017/10/26/chicago-brings-horns-and-hits-fort-myers-first-big-concert-suncoast-arena/756038001/ |access-date=April 27, 2023 |website=The News-Press |language=en-US |archive-date=October 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025023757/https://www.news-press.com/story/entertainment/2017/10/26/chicago-brings-horns-and-hits-fort-myers-first-big-concert-suncoast-arena/756038001/ |url-status=live }}</ref> When asked why the band didn't continue in its "jazzy improv" direction, Loughnane voiced his opinion that how the songwriters wrote was "materially affected" by changes in payment of royalties by the record companies and by the relatively short airplay time allowed for a song on the radio.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wardlaw |first=Matt |date=October 9, 2021 |title=Why Chicago's 'Carnegie Hall' Album Had 'Thousands of Problems' |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/chicago-carnegie-hall-album/ |access-date=April 26, 2023 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |language=en |archive-date=April 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426165307/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/chicago-carnegie-hall-album/ |url-status=live }}</ref>