Chicago is releasing a historic concert that has been newly re-mixed from the original multi-track tapes by founding member and trumpeter Lee Loughnane and engineer Tim Jessup. This 26-track live collection was recorded on September 16, 1971, about a week after the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened in the nation’s capital. For more than 50 years, the concert has remained unreleased except for the performance of “Goodbye,” which debuted in 2018 on Chicago: VI Decades Live.

The show explores all three studio albums that Chicago released since their 1969 debut. The songs span a range of styles, underscoring the band’s ability to blend genres seamlessly. The band would begin recording Chicago V a few days after the Kennedy Center performance. Released in July 1972, the album marked a significant evolution in the band’s sound and would become Chicago’s first No. 1 album. To get ready for the studio, Loughnane says the band road-tested some new songs in D.C. “Case in point: we did ‘Saturday In The Park’ for the first time at the Kennedy Center show. You’ll notice that we hadn’t yet decided on who would sing the lead vocal. Also, Robert hadn’t written Part 2 of ‘Dialogue’ yet.”