Averaging 80 to 100 shows each year, Chicago is out supporting the recently released “Chicago at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. (9/ 16/71),” a four-LP/three-CD set encompassing that historic gig. And while that show occurred 54 years ago, it still resonates for trombone player and founding member James Pankow.

“We were one of the first artists to perform there,” Pankow recalled. “This was in July 1971 and the Kennedy Center had just opened a few weeks prior to our performance. It was a brand-new venue, and they were looking at inaugurating the venue with acts that were meaningful and exciting. We were invited to perform and we did.

“And, of course, being that it was a historic appearance, we recorded the performance. It was also the first time we performed ‘Saturday in the Park’ live. It hadn’t even been recorded yet, and we hadn’t even decided who was going to sing it. Peter Cetera is singing the lead for this performance. It wasn’t until we went into the studio to complete the recording of ‘Chicago V,’ which included ‘Saturday in the Park,’ did Robert (Lamm) end up singing the lead vocal on his song ‘Saturday in the Park.’”

This unique sound captured in the Kennedy Center concert was created by a group of friends who met in the late 1960s at the Windy City’s DePaul University. Despite starting as a covers-only nightclub act (“Club owners didn’t want to hear our stuff — they wanted to hear Top 40,” Pankow said), Chicago moved on to playing all originals. And after relocating to Los Angeles in 1968, it became the house band at the famed Whisky a Go Go, despite being unsigned.

Eventually, the 10-piece band was signed by Columbia Records. And the nearly six-decade run that followed has enabled the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act to build quite the deep canon. While that’s allowed a lot of flexibility to put together tours such as last year’s co-headlining pairing with Earth, Wind & Fire (the sixth installment for the groups, according to Pankow), this year’s tour will be an evening with Chicago. And that evening comes Saturday to Ford Amphitheater.

“This year, people will get to hear songs that they didn’t get a chance to hear because we’re going to be on stage for the whole evening,” Pankow said.

“We’re going to be doing some things from every album, which isn’t something we always get a chance to do. It’s going to be a lot more in-depth snapshot about what Chicago is all about musically.”