Throughout the 1970s,
Chuck Mangione was a celebrity. His purposely lightweight music was melodic pop that was upbeat, optimistic and sometimes uplifting.
Mangione's records were big sellers yet few of his fans from the era knew that his original goal was to be a bebopper.
His father had often taken
Chuck and his older brother Gap (a keyboardist) out to see jazz concerts and
Dizzy Gillespie was a family friend. While
Chuck studied at the Eastman School, the two Mangiones co-led a bop quintet called the
Jazz Brothers that recorded several albums for Jazzland, often with Sal Nistico on tenor.
Chuck Mangione played with the big bands of
Woody Herman and
Maynard Ferguson (both in 1965) and
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1965-67). In 1968, now sticking mostly to his soft-toned flugelhorn,
Mangione formed a quartet that also featured Gerry Niewood on tenor and soprano. They cut a fine set for Mercury in 1972 but otherwise
Mangione's recordings in the 1970s generally used large orchestras and vocalists (including Esther Satterfield), putting the emphasis on lightweight melodies such as "Hill Where the Lord Hides," "Land of Make Believe," "Chase the Clouds Away" and the huge 1977 hit (featuring guitarist Grant Geissman) "Feels So Good." After a recorded 1978 Hollywood Bowl concert that summed up his pop years and a 1980 two-LP set that alternated pop and bop (with guest
Dizzy Gillespie),
Mangione gradually faded out of the music scene. In the 1970s
Chuck Mangione recorded for Mercury and A&M; in the 1980s he had a couple of very forgettable Columbia albums and had not been heard from in the '90s until a 1997 comeback tour found him in good form, having a reunion with his "Feels So Good" band. The Feeling's Back followed in 1999. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
