Singer-guitarist Bill Champlin, who recently went rogue after nearly three decades with jazz-rock band Chicago, is currently on tour with his new album, “No Place Left to Fall” (Dream Makers), his first solo CD in more than 10 years.
The album includes a 70-minute bonus DVD that includes a documentary on the making of the album (directed by new anchor and longtime fan Rod Simons), as well as live footage of Champlin’s recent performance with the Sons of Champlin, the soulful band he co-founded in the late ’60s in San Francisco.
The album blends soul, funk, blues and jazz, as well as rock, funk and R&B. And he’s not shy about adding an achingly beautiful ballad, such as the album’s title song. The CD has a stripped-down Chicago sound that’s immediately appealing.
“It’s not completely auto-tuned and processed like a lot of CDs are lately,” Champlin says. “It may not be dead-on perfect, but I think dead-on perfect records are just that – dead.”
Chicago fans will recall that Champlin sang lead vocal on “Look Away” and swapped vocals with Peter Cetera on “Hard Habit to Break.” Champlin also wrote and sang on “Hearts in Trouble” for the soundtrack of the 1990 Tom Cruise movie “Days of Thunder.”
The two-time Grammy winner launched a West Coast tour Nov. 6 in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.; the trek includes a show at 7:30 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 22) at the Triple Door. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets: $24.
Champlin also performs tonight and Saturday (Nov. 20-21) at the Mukilteo Coffee Roaster in Langley on Whidbey Island. Tickets, $25, are nearly sold out, but you can check by calling 360-321-5262.
Backing Champlin on the road are members of Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns, who played on his live solo album, “Mayday,” and the rhythm section from the group Santa Fe. Sharing vocals is Champlin’s wife, singer-songwriter Tamara Champlin.
Champlin plans to record another solo album and is working on new music with the Sons of Champlin.
Watch a 2006 video of Champlin performing “After the Love Has Gone,” the 1979 Earth, Wind & Fire hit written by Champlin, David Foster and Jay Graydon: