The band CHASE was created in 1970 by Bill Chase, Ted Piercefield, Alan Ware, and Jerry Van Blair, all veteran jazz trumpeters. They were backed up by a rhythm section consisting of Phil Porter on keyboards, Angel South on guitar, Dennis Keith Johnson on bass, and Jay Burrid on drums. Rounding out the group was Terry Richards, who was featured as lead vocalist on the first album. In April 1971, the band released their debut album CHASE which contains Chase’s best-known song, “Get It On,” released as a single that spent thirteen weeks on the charts beginning in May 1971. The band received a Best New Artist Grammy nomination and the album went Gold. Chase released their second album, ENNEA, in March 1972; the album’s title is the Greek word for nine, a reference to the nine band members. The original lineup changed midway through the recording sessions, with Gary Smith taking over on drums and GG Shinn on lead vocals.
Following an extended hiatus, Chase reemerged early in 1974 with the release of PURE MUSIC, their third album. Keeping the four-trumpet section headed by Bill Chase, including Joe Morrissey, Jim Oatts, Jay Sollenberger, Walter Clark on drums, John Emma on guitar, Wally Yohn on keyboards, Dartanyan Brown on bass and vocals, Jim Peterik of the Ides of March, also sings on two songs on the album.
On August 9, 1974 while en route to a scheduled performance at the Jackson County Fair in Minnesota, Bill Chase died in a plane crash at the age of 39. Also killed, along with the pilot and a female companion, were Wally Yohn, Walter Clark, and John Emma.
In 2007 Joe Morrissey contacted surviving original group members with a reunion proposition, and Chase Revisited was then born. Since then, the group has been selectively performing with members from all released albums, augmented with some of the best world-class jazz-rock musicians available, bringing this uniquely exciting music back to life.