This is the first CD brought out by the Chicago Seven, features eight tracks of a concert recorded in Canberra that only I knew was recorded, the rest of the tracks are available on our later releases as complete sets but were added to this disc to fill it out. Riff Raff 019 $25.00 Aust Mailed
The Chicago Seven was formed by Tom in 1980 and played together till Tom's death in 2001, it was Tom's main band and always had a residency, playing at the Vulcan Hotel first, then the Strawberry Hills Hotel for eight years and after that the Wynyard Hotel as well as touring around Australia. The band never went overseas but Tom toured every year. In the time that the band played together there has been only one change, this being Paul Furniss taking over David Ridyards chair when David left the band. The band consisted of :-
Dave Ridyard & Paul Finnerty
Tom Baker Tpt, Sax, Tbn & Vocals
David Ridyard Clt, Sax ---------Paul Furniss Clt, Sax
Pat Qua Piano
Don Heap Bass
Lynn Wallis Drums
Roger Janes Trombone & Vocals
Paul Finnerty Banjo & Guitar
The musicians in this band were a diverse lot, other than music they didn't share much in common. Everyone being passionate about their music was the common thread. The amount of recorded music is very limited even though the band played together for so long, I think one of the reasons was that we couldn't imagine that Tom or Roger would both die in the same year. Photo's of the band are also very rare, I am bringing out the small amount of music that I have so keep posted.
