Today, one of the most likely places to hear the songs of the musical group Chicago is on easy-listening radio stations.

But back in the late 1960s, when it first hit the national music scene as Chicago Transit Authority, the band was considered a rock group with horns.

That's the band drummer Danny Seraphine co-founded.

And rock is the music style Seraphine's new band, CTA (California Transit Authority), brought to Long's Park Sunday night.

The Long's Park version of CTA even included a three-piece horn section — something Seraphine admitted is rare for his current band.

"Usually, we have synth horns," he said. "But it's nice to have the real thing."

With a balding head and graying beard, Seraphine took his familiar position behind a drum kit to open the second installment of the 2007 Long's Park Summer Entertainment Series.

The crowd of a few thousand mostly middle-aged people clearly came to hear Chicago tunes, and CTA didn't disappoint.

The band kicked off with the Chicago classic "Make Me Smile," although CTA performed the song as an instrumental.

Not until the second song — another Chicago classic, "Introduction" — did the band's lead singer, Larry Braggs, hit the stage.

Braggs is best known as the lead vocalist since 2000 of the 1960s-era soul group, Tower of Power.

If you've been to a Chicago show in recent years, you've probably noticed that the lead singers primarily specialize in performing the group's ballads.

But they've lacked the soul needed to adequately perform the band's earliest rock-based hits.

With his three-octave range and his rock showmanship, Braggs on Sunday night brought that soul back to CTA, performing Chicago classics such as "I'm a Man" and "25 or 6 to 4."

I haven't heard those songs performed as well by Chicago at any of the dozen or so of the band's concerts I've been to over the past 15 years.

During the 90-minute concert, CTA mixed in a few original songs, such as "Several Thousand" and "West Virginia."

But it was the songs of Seraphine's early career that were in the highest demand.

And although it's been 17 years since Seraphine left Chicago, he proved during a number of solos Sunday night that he can still beat the drums the way he did when he was a kid.

"This isn't as easy as it used to be," he admitted to the crowd while wiping sweat from his brow.

One Chicago tune CTA performed, but probably should have stayed away from, was "Colour My World."

CTA played the song without its signature flute accompaniment.

Lacking a flutist of Walter Parazaider's caliber, however, that was probably wise.

Despite Braggs' beautiful vocals on the song, "Colour My World" just isn't the same without a flute.

Fortunately, the band recovered by closing its regular set with "I'm a Man" and "25 or 6 to 4."

For their encore, CTA saved the best for last, performing "Feelin' Stronger Every Day," with the horn section, guitarist Marc Bonilla, Seraphine and Braggs firing on all cylinders.

As should be the case, CTA left the crowd wanting more.

Email: preilly@lnpnews.com