James Pankow

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James Carter Pankow (born August 20, 1947 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American trombonist and songwriter who is best known for being a founding member (along with Walter Parazaider, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, Robert Lamm and Peter Cetera) of the rock band Chicago.

Pankow moved with his family to Park Ridge, Illinois at the age of eight, where he started playing the trombone at St. Paul of the Cross Elementary School.

One of nine siblings, Pankow was influenced by his father Wayne (also a musician) and the Notre Dame High School, Niles, IL band instructor, Father George Wiskirchen. Pankow earned a full music scholarship to Quincy College where he studied the bass trombone. After completing his freshman year, he returned home for the summer and formed a band that began to play some gigs. Not wanting to give up this work, Pankow transferred to DePaul University where he met Walter Parazaider, who recruited him to join a band named The Big Thing, which would later become Chicago. Pankow has continued to be a member of Chicago since its inception.

In addition to playing the trombone, Pankow has composed many songs for Chicago including the hits "Make Me Smile" (from his suite "Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon"), "Just You 'n Me", "(I've Been) Searching So Long", "Old Days", "Alive Again", "Bad Advice", "Follow Me", and (with Peter Cetera) "Feelin' Stronger Every Day". He has also composed most of Chicago's brass arrangements over the years, and as a result is perhaps the person most responsible for the "Chicago sound". Pankow sang lead vocals for two Chicago songs in the 1970s ("You Are On My Mind" and "Till The End Of Time").

Pankow has been married twice. The first, to Karen (for whom he wrote "Just You 'n Me") lasted 20 years and broke-up in 1993. (A Pankow tune called "Here With Me" on the infamous Stone of Sisyphus project acts as a sort of 'bookend' to this marriage). He has recently remarried; he and his wife Jeannie have two children (between the two marriages, he has a total of four). His brother is actor John Pankow, best known as a co-star of the television series Mad About You.

Pankow has appeared on several albums for the rock band Toto, including the Grammy-winning Toto IV and their recently released album Falling In Between (for which he composed the brass arrangements and performed on the song "Dying On My Feet").

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Chicago
Robert Lamm | James Pankow | Lee Loughnane | Walter Parazaider | Bill Champlin
Jason Scheff | Tris Imboden | Keith Howland
Terry Kath | Peter Cetera | Danny Seraphine | Laudir DeOliveira | Donnie Dacus | Chris Pinnick | Dawayne Bailey
Discography
Studio albums: The Chicago Transit Authority | Chicago | Chicago III | Chicago V | Chicago VI |Chicago VII | Chicago VIII | Chicago X | Chicago XI | Hot Streets
Chicago 13 | Chicago XIV | Chicago 16 | Chicago 17 | Chicago 18 | Chicago 19 | Twenty 1 | Night & Day Big Band | Chicago XXX
Live albums: Chicago at Carnegie Hall | Chicago XXVI: Live in Concert
Compilations: Chicago IX - Chicago's Greatest Hits | Greatest Hits, Volume II | Greatest Hits 1982-1989
The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997 | The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998 Volume II | The Very Best of: Only the Beginning | Love Songs
Christmas albums: Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album | What's It Gonna Be, Santa?
Unreleased album: Stone of Sisyphus
Box sets: The Box
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