James Carter Pankow (born August 20, 1947) is an American

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

player, songwriter, and

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. The term ''labrosone'', from Latin elements meani ...

arranger who is a founding member of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He is best known for his brass arrangements, and for being one-third of Chicago's brass/woodwind section alongside

Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/wo ...

and

Walter Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/woodwind section alongside Lee Loughnane and James Pankow. Para ...

Early life, family and education

Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, of German and Irish descent, Pankow was one of nine siblings. He is the older brother of actor

John Pankow John Pankow (born April 28, 1954) is an American actor. He began his career on-stage in New York, in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway plays including Peter Shaffer's ''Amadeus'', John Patrick Shanley's '' Italian American Reconciliation,'' ...

, who appeared on the TV series ''

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City as they navigate life together. In later seasons, the couple has a daughter. It initially aired on NBC from September 2 ...

''. The family moved to

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located north of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airpo ...

, when he was eight years old. Pankow was influenced by his musician father, Wayne. He started playing the

at St. Paul of the Cross Elementary School. His Notre Dame High School band instructor was Father George Wiskirchen, CSC. Pankow earned a full music scholarship to

Quincy College Quincy College (QC) is a public community college in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is an open admission school that offers associate degrees, bachelor degrees, and certificate programs. It was founded in 1958 and enrolls approximately 3,500 studen ...

, where he studied the bass trombone. After completing his first year, he returned home for the summer and formed a band that began to play some live local shows. Not wanting to give up this work, Pankow transferred to

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

. He is a member of

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (legally Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha, PMA, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for men with a special interest ...

, and he was given the National Citation as well as recognition as Signature Sinfonian along with fellow Chicago members and Sinfonians on August 26, 2009.

Career

Chicago

At DePaul, Pankow met

, who recruited him to join a band, The Big Thing, which would become Chicago Transit Authority. Soon after the first album's release, the band's name was shortened to

. Pankow has remained 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" and " Colour My World" (both from his suite ''

Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" , also known as "The Ballet" and "Make Me Smile Medley", is a nearly thirteen-minute mini-rock opera/song cycle/suite from Chicago's 1970 album ''Chicago'' (also called ''Chicago II''). It was the group's first atte ...

''), "

Just You 'N' Me "Just You 'n' Me" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago (band), Chicago and recorded for their fifth studio album ''Chicago VI'' (1973). The lead vocals are sung by bassist Peter Cetera. Background The second single released fr ...

," " (I've Been) Searchin' So Long," " Old Days," " Alive Again," and (with

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera Jr. ( ; born September 13, 1944) is a retired American musician best known for being a frontman, vocalist, and bassist for the American rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985. His career as a recording artist ...

) " Feelin' Stronger Every Day." Pankow has scored most of Chicago's brass arrangements. Although he is not one of the band's principal vocalists, he sang lead vocals for two Chicago songs: "You Are On My Mind" (from '' Chicago X'', 1976) and "Till the End of Time" ('' Chicago XI'', 1977).

Other

Along with fellow Chicago horns

and

, Pankow was featured on

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sn ...

's 1969 #15 hit " Celebrate" and on several tracks of the 1979

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

' ''

Spirits Having Flown ''Spirits Having Flown'' is the fifteenth album by the Bee Gees, released in 5 February 1979, by RSO Records. It was the group's first album after their collaboration on the '' Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack. The album's first three tracks we ...

'' album. Pankow has appeared on several albums for the rock band Toto, including the 1982

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Award-winning ''

Toto IV ''Toto IV'' is the fourth studio album by American rock music, rock band Toto (band), Toto, released on April 8, 1982, by Columbia Records. The album's lead single, "Rosanna (song), Rosanna", peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot ...

'' and their 2006 album '' Falling in Between'', for which he composed the brass arrangements and performed on the song "Dying on My Feet".

Personal life

Pankow and his first wife Karen were married for 18 years. Their children are Jonathan (born 1981) and Sarah (born 1986). Pankow and his second wife Jeanne Pacelli have two children, Carter (born 1999) and Lilli (born 2002).

References

External links

Chicago
official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pankow, James Living people 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American trombonists 20th-century American trombonists American people of German descent American people of Irish descent Chicago (band) members DePaul University alumni American male trombonists Musicians from St. Louis People from Park Ridge, Illinois Songwriters from Missouri American male songwriters 1947 births