AOTW: Chuck Mangione - LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL (SP-6701)

[Captain Bacardi]

Chuck Mangione
AN EVENING OF MAGIC - LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
A&M SP-6701

Released 1979

Format: Vinyl (2 LPs)/Cassette (2 Tapes)/CD (2 CDs)

Produced by Chuck Mangione

Songs:

• 1. Feels So Good
  2. The XIth Commandment
  3. Chase The Clouds Away
  4. Hill Where The Lord Hides
  5. Doin' Everything With You
  6. Love The Feelin'
  7. I Get Crazy
  8. Land Of Make-Believe
  9. Hide And Seek
  10. The Day After (Our First Night Together)
  11. Children Of Sanchez (Main Theme)
  12. B'Bye
  13. Children Of Sanchez (Finale)
  14. Main Squeeze
  15. Feels So Good (Encore)
  
  All music composed by Chuck Mangione except "Main Squeeze" - composed by C. Mangione/D. Grolnick/B. Mann/J. Tropea/T. Levin/R. Bassini/R. MacDonald/R. Tee/S. Gadd
  
  "B'Bye" String Arrangement: Bill Reichenbach

Musicians:
Chuck Mangione - Flugelhorn, Electric Piano
Chris Vadala - Soprano and Tenor Saxophones, Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo
Grant Geissman - Classical, Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Charles Meeks - Bass
James Bradley, Jr. - Drums

70-piece orchestra conducted by: Chuck Mangione

Gerry Vinci - Concertmaster
Ron Leonard - Cello
Jeff Tkazyik - Trumpet
Jerry Peel - French Horn
Frank Szabo, Jeff Kievit - Trumpets
Richard Chamberlain, Keith O'Quinn and Art Linsner - Trombones
John Stevens - Tuba
Adah Mosello - Flute and Piccolo
Larry Covelli and John Mitchell - Saxophones and Flutes
Nate Alford - Percussion

String Coordinator - Gerry Vinci
Brass and Reed Coordinator - Jeff Tkazyik

Recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl, July 16, 1978

Music coordination and production assistance: Jeff Tkazyik
Recording Engineer: Mick Guzauski
Concert Sound Engineer: Larry Swist
Mixing and Editing: Mick Guzauski, Jeff Tkazyik and Chuck Mangione
Mastering: Chris Bellman
Mastered at: Allen Zantz Recording
Remote recording facilities: Filmways/Heider Recording
Sound reinforcement: Northeastern Production Systems, Inc.
Tour Coordinator: Judy Cites

Art Direction and Design: Roland Young and Junie Osaki
Cover Painting: Michael Schwab
Photography: Benno Friedman, Mark Hanauer and Junie Osaki

Management: Tom Iannaccone, Gates Music, Rochester, New York

Liner Notes: Chuck Casell




Capt. Bacardi

 

[seashorepiano]

Seventy-piece orchestra?? Was Chuck comparing notes with Bob James over at CTi when this was recorded? Good God.

Let me guess, this is like Chuck's immediately preceding A&M outings?

 

[Dave]

Unusual to include "Doin' Everything With You", written by the New York Studio musicians who played on Chuck's Mainsqueeze album, in addition to Chuck, himself...! But he performed it at the show I saw him do in Dearborn, MI, a couple years back... Along with a few other of these numbers...

Lots of pics of cars driving up to The Hollywood Bowl for "Tonight's Performance", as well as the concession stands set up, and of course the typical "Studio-Overdubs", such as the Sheet Music, going a little "Outt'a Control" during the Orchestral Sessions at A&M Studios... Gerry Vinci is the String Section-leader, but I burn my eyes out trying to identify the rest of the players there I had sometimes seen pic's of on a few other albums; Unidentified, as usual...!

To think Mangione's oeuvre needed a Live treatment, as some of these songs he just did on his recent Albums we've reviewed here, while maybe at least ONE dates back to his Mercury Years... (--And I'm sure missed-out on getting done with the Rochester, NY Philaharmonic in the "Good Ol' Days"--or maybe it WAS!)



Dave

...Go, Chuck!!!

 

[Mr Bill]

By this point in his A&M career, Mangione was becoming quite repetitive -- as if everyone wanted a repeat of "Feels So Good." To my mind at the time it seemed as iff A&M was putting out a "Mangione-multi-record-set-in-white-cover-with-mangione-in-Profile" every other month! At least three I can think of -- Tarantella. Children of Sanchez and Evening Of Magic. By this time it was all sounding the same. There's probably another two or three I've forgotten!

Not a thread crap but an observation...

--Mr Bill

 

[Captain Bacardi]

To my mind at the time it seemed as iff A&M was putting out a "Mangione-multi-record-set-in-white-cover-with-mangione-in-Profile" every other month!

Mercury Records was also jumping on the Mangione bandwagon at the time, reissuing some of his early two-fer albums as well as a new "Best Of" sampler.




Capt. Bacardi

 

[Bullish '84]

Though there was a glut of Mangione stuff at the time, the "Bowl" Live-set
was probably the best way to hear him. The "Live" album now on CD is
very well recorded and orchestrated. I rarely gave his A&M studio albums or Mercury stuff a second spin, but this one gets played when I'm in the mood for his stuff. His band sounds looser and more enjoyable in this context.

"Tarantellas" is very different from his other projects, with lots of all-star guests. One side dedicated to Dizzy Gillespie's appearance really is amazing, performing his classics "Manteca" and Things To Come." Chuck lays low on this side, and his duet with Chick Corea is nice from another side. Side One's "Eleventh Commandment" is not his usual quartet abridgement but the entire original orchestration written for guest Steve Gadd's Senior recital at Eastman. It takes Steve thru several different styles and meters of drumming. A CD of this concert(which was for Italian Earthquake relief) would be nice to have. Haven't checked lately
if there was one out.

"Children of Sanchez" has a couple of nice compositions in it(mostly the main themes), but if you have ever seen the movie-maybe seeing it spoils even the music. Most people who have seen it rank it as one of the all-time worst films, including people involved in it's production.

I would have loved to have heard more Mangione interpreted by other artists. Absolutely loved Herb Alpert & The TJB's "Legend of The One-Eyed Sailor" on the "You Smile.." Album, loved it on the '74 TV Special too. Vaguely remeber Herb performing on one of the TJB's '74 or '75
talk show appearances.

 

[Bullish '84]

I remember Chuck from around that time on a talk show telling a story about a fan recognizing him on the street and coming up to him.

"It's you man, it's really you. I can't believe it's you, I've got ALL your
records, I play them all the time. (Hugs Chuck) I been following your whole career, your music is simply amazing! I have a friend nearby that I... (Dude on street is now out of breath and shaking) I..just have to have him meet you. Hey Rico!!!-come on over here!! "I'd like you to meet....SERGIO MENDES!"

 

[Rudy]

Though there was a glut of Mangione stuff at the time, the "Bowl" Live-set was probably the best way to hear him.

I agree this one's a nice "live" set. For me it was a good introduction to his other recordings, since I had only a cassette of "Feels So Good" at this point. The engineers got a good sound out of this concert too--nice balance between combo and orchestra. Speaking of the song--I could have done without the encore, but I'd rather hear the encore than that severely edited version they play on radio these days!

"Tarantellas" is very different from his other projects, with lots of all-star guests. One side dedicated to Dizzy Gillespie's appearance really is amazing, performing his classics "Manteca" and Things To Come." Chuck lays low on this side, and his duet with Chick Corea is nice from another side. Side One's "Eleventh Commandment" is not his usual quartet abridgement but the entire original orchestration written for guest Steve Gadd's Senior recital at Eastman. It takes Steve thru several different styles and meters of drumming.

To me, the Gadd track was the highlight of the set, along with the Dizzy side. One impression I immediately got was that some of the ensemble players were "overblown"; this wasn't lost on one review I'd read, which mentioned that some of the band members should have checked their egos at the door. Parts of this album don't work for me, but the highlights make it worth listening to. Hearing Steve Gadd's workout is a treat--a drummer I knew back then said that the drum patterns he was playing are *very* difficult. I also like how Gadd is featured in the title track of Steely Dan's "Aja"....nice to hear him get some space for a workout, which some have called a career performance.

"Children of Sanchez" has a couple of nice compositions in it(mostly the main themes), but if you have ever seen the movie-maybe seeing it spoils even the music. Most people who have seen it rank it as one of the all-time worst films, including people involved in it's production.

Thankfully I've been spared the film version. I've always felt the "Sanchez" could have been edited down into one good single-length album. (Others here might say it would have worked better as a single-sided 45RPM single. ) There are some nice themes on the album. I just feel a few of them are long-winded, which is one reason why the album never warmed to me.

I would have loved to have heard more Mangione interpreted by other artists. Absolutely loved Herb Alpert & The TJB's "Legend of The One-Eyed Sailor" on the "You Smile.." Album, loved it on the '74 TV Special too. Vaguely remeber Herb performing on one of the TJB's '74 or '75 talk show appearances.

[/i]

I believe he also played it in concert during those tours--I was too young to remember much of the set lists back then. We played "Legend" in a jazz combo we took to the state band festival in high school--it was a small combo version which I believe was based on one of his Mercury-era albums. (Flugel, soprano sax, rhythm section.) Also played a Cannonball Adderley song, but I can't remember which one it was. (It wasn't "Mercy Mercy Mercy", nor the "Work Song".) We did get a "first" for the performance, but my intonation was off...I didn't have my own soprano at that point, and was using an ancient Selmer that was pitched for A436 and not A440...so it was a struggle to stay in tune with the flugelhorn.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

One thing to remember about this concert is that the "Children Of Sanchez" suite made its debut here - a couple of months before the album was released. It's much better here.




Capt. Bacardi

 

[Bullish '84]

Great comments Rudy, and good to see the Captain weighing in.

About "Tarantellas," I didn't think too much about some of the reviews at the time because so much of the good stuff from it was recorded so late at night/overnight and players were coming and going from set to set from other gigs. I imagine a little more rehearsal couldn't have hurt them
either. Ego's, I think if the vibe was good amongst them-they could've been having a little fun cutting each other up a bit. Also, was there liquid refreshments available? That would have been a good night to hear the chatter within the section guys. Good fly on the wall stuff!

I always wanted to know what else was played and what didn't make the album. Even at 2-LP's it was only part of the benefit.



(By the way this is very nice talking stuff other than where is "Volume 2" & "Warm" on CD!)(Check my posts-I'm not one of those guys)

 

[Dave]

Yes, this was a Benefit for Earthquake Relief for a town in Italy... I wonder what a Tour Program for this may be worth... Wonder if anyone HERE could'a been "There", back then...?

I'm sure there was plenty of "Good Liquid" to go 'round refreshment-wise; the way this set is 'book-ended' with "Feels So Good", everyone seemed to be having a good time!



Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I've always enjoyed this album for the most part. It's not without its flaws, though. There are times where guitarist Grant Geissman is just too busy on his solos, especially on songs as "Chase The Clouds Away" and "I Get Crazy", and it detracts from the performances. He does redeem himself on "Land Of Make-Believe" as well as "Main Squeeze", where he's just flat-out crazy. Mangione's own solos leave a bit to be desired as well on some tunes. On the plus side, I like this version of "Hill Where The Lord Hides", which has more of a samba feel to it. I also thought "B'Bye" is absolutely gorgeous, far better than the version of the Sanchez album. Chris Vadala's sax is a perfect fit for this tune.

What really makes this album work for me is the surrounding orchestra. I always enjoyed Mangione's orchestral stuff. (I even got to play with him in '82 when I was at Ball State and he used our orchestra as a backup.) There's plenty on this album for most to enjoy. 3 & 1/2 stars for me.





Capt. Bacardi

 

[ultraJC]

I also really like this album alot. I bought it at the tender age of 15 and became a real fan. In fact, it was the first "jazz" album I ever bought myself - I believe it opened the door for me to get deeper into the genre than I would have otherwise. So, for that reason I guess it holds a bit of nostalgia for me as well.

This group was definitely rockin' - Geissman was (and still is, I'm sure) a monster player, Vadala's work was a great complement to Mangione's flugel (and I agree with Captain Bacardi - particularly stunning on "B'Bye"), and Charles and James create wonderful support throughout. And although Mangione's playing does have it's own signature sound - his greatest strengths were obviously writing and arranging. Wonderful melodies abound, with beautiful orchestrations that, for the most part, stay out of the way and create the perfect backdrop for the quartet. How many contemporary jazz records released today can say that?? Too few, I'm afraid.

I rated this as Mangione's best, and overall would give it 4 stars.

 

[Rudy]

And although Mangione's playing does have it's own signature sound - his greatest strengths were obviously writing and arranging. Wonderful melodies abound, with beautiful orchestrations that, for the most part, stay out of the way and create the perfect backdrop for the quartet. How many contemporary jazz records released today can say that?? Too few, I'm afraid.

Completely agree! Mangione knows how to orchestrate and arrange the songs so the extras stay out of the way of the combo and soloists. As for the compositions--I'd probably enjoy more of today's contemporary jazz if there were still melodies like his out there.

And you're right: he's not a "technician" in terms of playing--as an example, his high "D" on the flugel is quite flat (listen to the opening to "Feels So Good" in its original version), but he does work well at getting a "feel" out of his horn.