AOTW: Chuck Mangione - LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL

[Captain Bacardi]

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

Released 1979
Peaked at #5 on the Jazz Album chart and #27 on the Pop Album chart (1979)

Format: Vinyl (2 LPs)/8-Track (2 Tapes)/Cassette (2 Tapes)/CD (2 Discs)

Produced by Chuck Mangione

Songs:

• 1. Feels So Good - 9:17
  2. The XIth Commandment - 6:38
  3. Chase The Clouds Away - 9:34
  4. Hill Where The Lord Hides - 5:24
  5. Doin' Everything With You - 7:35
  6. Love The Feelin' - 7:20
  7. I Get Crazy - 4:13
  8. Land Of Make Believe - 9:05
  9. Hide And Seek - 8:36
  10. The Day After (Our First Night Together) - 7:35
  11. Children Of Sanchez (Main Theme) - 6:47
  12. B'Bye - 5:06
  13. Children Of Sanchez (Finale) - 3:53
  14. Main Squeeze - 6:35
  15. Feels So Good (Encore) - 3:10
  
  All selections written by Chuck Mangione except "Main Squeeze" (written 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

Seventy-piece orchestra conducted by: Chuck Mangione

Gerry Vinci - Concertmaster
Ron Leonard - Cello
Jeff Tkazyik - Lead Trumpet
Jerry Peel - French Horn
Frank Szabo - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Jeff Kievit - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Jay Wadenpfuhl - French Horn
Richard Chamberlain - Trombone
Keith O'Quinn - Trombone
Art Linsner - Trombone
John Stevens - Tuba
Adah Mosello - Flute and Piccolo
Larry Covelli - Saxophones and Flutes
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 Zentz Recording
Remote recording facilities: Filmways/Heider Recording
Sound reinforcement: Norhteastern Production Systems, Inc.
Tour coordinator: Judy Cites

Art Direction and album design: Roland Young and Junie Osaki
Cover painting: Michael Schwab
Photography: Benno Friedman, Mark Hanauer and Junie Osaki
Liner notes: Chuck Casell




Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

The end-result meets the ambition... It took a Double-Live LP to alleviate the feeling that Mangione's works were all beginning to sound alike or rather, sound very indistinctive... A good souvenir for long-time fans of Chuck's and newcomers alike... Though still attributed more to the photos in the album cover as the compositions are still Live versions of what was available in the studio with the jamming by Chuck and his band added in certain spots and the avoidance of being overblown (especially since the members of his Studio Band, along with Chuck wrote "Main Squeeze" and you really miss them playing it) but undistinguishable as with most Live albums this one was still subject to over-dubbing--an orchestra, in this case--likely to detract from the spontaneity that finally got established but at least serves as more than just "holding action", as well as something that can bear more than "just that one listen"...



Dave

 

[toeknee4bz]

The end-result meets the ambition... It took a Double-Live LP to alleviate the feeling that Mangione's works were all beginning to sound alike or rather, sound very indistinctive... A good souvenir for long-time fans of Chuck's and newcomers alike...
Dave

I used to wear this thing out when I was a teenager in the early to mid-'80s. At the time I only had two albums of Mangione: FEELS SO GOOD and FUN AND GAMES (incidentally his two best). I must admit that AN EVENING OF MAGIC doesn't hit my speakers too often today, largely due to the fact that I largely prefer his studio tracks over his live tracks... I still think that it's one of Chuck's better albums regardless of whether it's live or studio.

On my iPod, one will find all studio versions of these compositions, taken from their original album releases, with one exeption: "Hill Where The Lord Hides". This is, without a doubt, the best version you'll ever hear!

Tony

 

[Rudy]

This one's pretty good as live albums go, and I'm not a fan of most live albums. It's a lot better than the "Tarantella" live set that he'd record a couple of years later, which was overblown and sloppy.

 

[audiofile]

 

[toeknee4bz]

This one's pretty good as live albums go, and I'm not a fan of most live albums. It's a lot better than the "Tarantella" live set that he'd record a couple of years later, which was overblown and sloppy.

My sentiments exactly, and I couldn't have said it better!

Tony

 

[audiofile]

I think Tarantella is a great album. I really don't know what you're talking about. The band on Chuck's tunes is great and tight as hell. And the jam session type material really captures the essence of jazz. Where else can you hear Chuck playing bebop and jamming with Dizzy Gillespie and Chick Corea at this point in his career....

 

[toeknee4bz]

I think Tarantella is a great album. I really don't know what you're talking about. The band on Chuck's tunes is great and tight as hell. And the jam session type material really captures the essence of jazz. Where else can you hear Chuck playing bebop and jamming with Dizzy Gillespie and Chick Corea at this point in his career....

That's just it. I never was overly enthralled w/ Dizzy's music, and only minimally w/ Corea. I'm sorry, but I see Dizzy as about 90% improvisation and 10% structure, even if he was a legend. After 5 or 10 minutes of his meandering, I forget what composition he's supposed to be playing.

Meanwhile, Mangione was largely, at least on his A&M recordings, a musician who would return to the written motif every once in a while, or at least between or after the solos.

However, in all fairness, I haven't heard TARANTELLA since about 1990, and one's perpective could possibly change with time.

Tony

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I used to play this album a lot when it first came out, part of the Mangione craze that was going on in the late 70's. For the most part it's a pretty good album. I saw Mangione a couple of times during this period, although sans orchestra, so this was a little different. The one thing that really bothered me was Grant Geissman's frenzied guitar solos, which became a real distraction, especially on "Chase The Clouds Away" and "Hide And Seek". He just overdid it (take a 'lude, dude!). I really dug "I Get Crazy", and this had a nice version of the overly-played "Land Of Make Believe". This album's version of "Children Of Sanchez" is clearly superior to the original studio version, and "B'Bye" is absolutely gorgeous. "Main Squeeze" had a great groove at first, but died down a bit towards the last third of the song. Too bad Mangione kept missing the high notes on "Feels So Good". 3 stars.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[audiofile]

That's just it. I never was overly enthralled w/ Dizzy's music, and only minimally w/ Corea. I'm sorry, but I see Dizzy as about 90% improvisation and 10% structure, even if he was a legend. After 5 or 10 minutes of his meandering, I forget what composition he's supposed to be playing.



Tony

Just because there was improvisation in Dizzy's music, doesn't mean there's no structure. When a jazz musician improvises, especially in bebop, he/she is playing over the same chord progressions as the head of the tune. They play over form. You can't have more structure than that.

I'll just take it, you're not really jazz fan.

 

[seashorepiano]

Audiofile, with due respect, that's a bit of a strong statement to make. Not all jazz fans like extended improvisations. I'm a jazz fan--well, at least, I think I am, because I own many jazz albums--but there are times I've listened to lengthy improvisations by some bebop and hard-bop artists and scratched my head, thinking, "This is mindless noodling!" Sometimes I think the improvisations are self-absorbed and go nowhere.

 

[audiofile]

I was just commenting on the statement that Dizzy's music has no structure, which is simply not true.

However, there are many many many recordings where certain players take mindless chorus after chorus and have nothing to say. That is a sad fact, although I don't think Dizzy Gillespie of all people was one of these cats. This man was an innovator and a genius.

Again, my point was that Dizzy's music does have structure. I understand that a lot of people need melody, and get tired and can't get into improvisation. But since improvisation is one of the strongest ingredients in jazz music, if you can't sit through some Dizzy Gillespie music, I don't see how jazz can be your main bag.

No disrespect.

 

[Dave]

Time will usually tell if an extended jam an artist records, thinking it will eternally knock everyone out is really going to endure repeated listenings or turn some people off from the get...

A lot of my favorite artists even sometimes get so self-absorbed that it's often a thin line between a hot extended solo in a "patterned improvasion" that serves a purpose, while maintaining the original structure of the song and one which I can listen to for life, or just becomes some long-winded fooh-fah that best gets left in the background...



Dave

 

[toeknee4bz]

That's just it. I never was overly enthralled w/ Dizzy's music, and only minimally w/ Corea. I'm sorry, but I see Dizzy as about 90% improvisation and 10% structure, even if he was a legend. After 5 or 10 minutes of his meandering, I forget what composition he's supposed to be playing.
Tony

Just because there was improvisation in Dizzy's music, doesn't mean there's no structure. When a jazz musician improvises, especially in bebop, he/she is playing over the same chord progressions as the head of the tune. They play over form. You can't have more structure than that.

I'll just take it, you're not really jazz fan.

Right... that's why I enjoy artists like Gato Barbieri, Bob James, Grover Washington Jr. and Chuck Mangione.

OK, I'm sorry for being sarcastic. But "jazz" is a very broad term. As I noted in another thread, my dictionary defines jazz as "music based on Afro-American spirituals, blues, work songs and the like, that evolved into increasingly complex styles marked by improvisation, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality and tone clusters." And if any album (IMHO) displays this definition in any way, it's AN EVENING OF MAGIC: LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL.

Tony

 

[audiofile]

Yes, but the artists you've mentioned, (and there's nothing wrong with them) are pretty light-weight. Most of them, excluding Chuck, practically invented smooth jazz, which is not really jazz at all.

I'm not here to declare what is jazz and what isn't. And I'm certainly not here to tell anybody what to listen to, but i think if you really want to get into jazz, you should start with the masters.

There are a lot of people who like Gato Barbieri, Bob James, and Grover Washington Jr, because their music is accessible and very radio friendly. These guys made some great recordings, but it really isn't essential.

 

[toeknee4bz]

As the saying goes, "To each his own..."

 

[Dave]

Well, I guess that's an example of the initial structure of the song becoming PALIMPSEST...



Dave