CTA - Full Circle (2007)

In 1990 one of the larger miscarriages of musical justice occurred when Chicago drummer, Daniel Seraphine, was fired from the very band he helped found and put on the map as the second most successful American rock band (the Beach Boys being the most successful).

After a 16 year hiatus from the music industry, Danny finally decided to resume his musical career. After some wood-shedding with veteran session drummers like Joe Porcaro and Steve Smith (of Journey fame), Danny partnered up with guitarist Marc Bonilla and the two of them put together what became California Transit Authority (an homage to his original band). A handful of concert dates on both the east and west coasts and this album are the end result of the fruits of their musical labors.

From first listen you can tell music is a labor of love not just for Seraphine and Bonilla but for their whole band. Full Circle is a collection of covers of classic Chicago material and a handful of other songs. Generally covers albums don't work so well-- but with Danny having been the original drummer for the music being covered there is that common thread that gives these covers considerably more credence than at the hands and talents of other bands.

Start to finish California Transit Authority takes these songs and makes them their own. Tower of Power vocalist, Larry Braggs, lends his soulful vocals to many of the tracks, however a handful of them are either instrumentals or have been re-done as instrumentals. Some of the highlights include:

• Happy Cause I'm Going Home originally an album cut on Chicago III it lends itself well to CTA's new arrangement which replaces Walt Parazaider's flute with Marc Bonilla's deft guitar work.
• Introduction (the lead-off track from Chicago's 1969 debut album) which sounds quite fresh with its updated arrangement.
• Make Me Smile was Chicago's first top 10 hit. CTA redoes this classic as an instrumental replacing the vocal line with the guitar.

Listening to this album conjures the feeling that Chicago has really been missing something since Danny's unfortunate departure all those years ago. No offense to current Chicago drummer, Tris Imboden (who is an excellent drummer in his own right), the drumming just sounds "fuller" than much of the post Seraphine Chicago material does. There's more meat "in the pocket" and for Chicago fans listening to this material is like meeting an old friend for the first time all over again.

Related Links

• California Transit Authority Official Website
• Borders.com (this CD is a Borders exclusive and is not available elsewhere)
• iTunes (however, this is available digitally from iTunes and Napster)
• Danny Seraphine (Wikipedia entry)
• Marc Bonilla (Wikipedia entry)
• CTA Youtube clips