The sessions are entirely based on the music of modern rock n' roll groups, in contrast to Kenton's earlier work which primarily featured swing with some progressive jazz leanings.

[1] Up to the time of Stan Kenton Plays Chicago the band had primarily made recordings of music that were swing oriented with progressive leanings.

[1] The transition from Capitol to Creative World Records in 1970 was fraught with difficulties during a time when the music business was changing rapidly.

As a viable jazz artist who was trying to keep a loyal but dwindling following, Kenton turned to arrangers such as Hank Levy and Bob Curnow to write material that appealed to a younger audience.

[1] The first releases for the Creative World label were live concerts and Kenton had the control he wanted over content but lacked substantial resources to engineer, mix, and promote what Capitol underwrote in the past.

I was managing (Stan's) record company with NO experience in business, writing music like mad, living in a new place and culture (Los Angeles was another world), traveling a LOT (out with the band at least 1 week a month) and trying to keep it together at home.

The Stan Kenton Plays Chicago album was conceived, arranged, conducted, mixed and sequenced by Robert Curnow.

[8]Dick Shearer makes commentary on the quality of the Blood, Sweat, and Tears portion of the album, "(Alone is) a classic, what Curnow did with that, with the swing chorus in the middle.

The soloists on the LP are played by Dick Shearer, Tony Campise, Roy Reynolds, Mike Barrowman, Kevin Jordan, and Stan Kenton himself.

Stan Kenton Plays Chicago was released in 1974 on Creative World Records in the United States, in LP format with a double cover.