- Jimmy wrote unique horn arrangements based on what the song composers were looking for.
And, those arrangements always put the trombone out front. He always wrote the most interesting parts for himself.
Little Jimmy (height wise) has always had a HUGE ego, hasn't he? Yeah, sometime around V he started the "trombone choir" of overdubs and trombone section lead parts. It got so bad that from VI-XI, most horn section parts sounded like a buncha trombones. There are people who think Chicago's horn section is 4 trombones, not unlike Chase with 4 trumpets. In the beginning the horn section and parts were more of a unison ensemble thing.
Guercio? How could I forget him? He made it all happen as producer and manager. He also pushed the band to do better, until he lost interest around the time of VIII and was into other projects. On the other hand, he also helped make a lot of their double albums padded single albums by allowing lotsa filler (suites that were filled with disposable parts like Travel Suite).
