Chuck Mangione, the American flugelhorn player, trumpeter, and composer, passed away last Tuesday (July 22) at his home in Rochester, New York. He was 84.
Born in Rochester to Italian parents who were avid jazz fans, Mangione rose to prominence as a student at the Eastman School of Music. He performed with his brother, Gap Mangione in the ensemble, The Jazz Brothers. In the mid 1960s, at the recommendation of Dizzy Gillespie, Chuck Mangione joined Art Blakey’s combo, The Jazz Messengers, as the group’s trumpeter.
As a Grammy Award-winning crossover artist, Mangione composed and performed popular standards such as Feels So Good and Children of Sanchez. His music served as themes for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, as well as the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York (Give It All You Got).
Mangione helped to establish Eastman’s jazz program. He served as director of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble from 1968 until 1972. (In the 1990s, I met him briefly in the halls of Eastman). Mangione had a recurring role playing himself on the animated TV sitcom, King of the Hill.
Feels So Good
Mangione’s signature flugelhorn sound takes centerstage in his most recognizable hit. Released as a single early in 1978, the song soared to fourth place on the Billboard chart by June of that year. This performance was recorded live on March 8th, 1979:
Friends and Love Album
This Grammy nominated album was recorded live in the Eastman Theatre with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra on May 9, 1970. Mangione “fell in love with strings and their uses” as a student at Eastman. He said later, “With four people you can create one very strong kind of energy, but if you can get 65 people working together, and swinging together, that’s a whole other kind of energy.”
Secret Love
Recorded live at The Lighthouse jazz club in Southern California, the 1966 album, Buttercorn Lady, features Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. Chuck Mangione is joined by a young Keith Jarrett on piano, Frank Mitchell on tenor saxophone, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Blakey on drums. Secret Love, a standard by Sammy Fain, forms the album’s final track:
Buttercorn Lady
The album’s title track was composed by Mangione. Its catchy, carefree melody foreshadowed the music of Chuck Mangione’s later career:
Recordings
- Chuck Mangione’s complete discography
I had the privilege to meet Chuck early in his career. It was in 1973. I was teaching public school music at a Central School in upstate NY. Chuck and his group were on tour, (probably paid for by the Music Performance Trust Fund), and did a performance for our high school students. I helped to set up for his performance and had a friendly musician-to-musician chat with him before and after. He was a down to earth guy, rather self-effacing, but obviously talented. The kids really enjoyed the performance! So did I! It’s nice to remember him this way.