Chuck Mangione

Biography

Charles Frank Mangione ( man-JOH-nee; November 29, 1940 – July 22, 2025) was an American flugelhorn player, trumpeter, actor, and composer. He came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother, Gap, achieving international success in 1978 with his jazz-pop single "Feels So Good×Feels So GoodMarch 1977 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1Feels So Good9:43A2Maui-Waui10:13A3Theme From "Side Street"2:06B1Hide & Seek (Ready or Not Here I Come)6:25B2Last Dance10:54B3The XIth Commandment6:37". He released more than 30 albums, beginning in the 1960s. He also appeared in various television shows, including a recurring role on King of the Hill.

Early life

Mangione was born to Italian-American parents on November 29, 1940, in Rochester, New York, where he grew up. His parents were jazz enthusiasts who owned a grocery store, Mangione Grocery. While at elementary school Mangione began music lessons, beginning with piano, but later switching to trumpet after watching the film Young Man with a Horn. With his pianist brother, Gap, he started a band in high school and played in sessions with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.

Career

Mangione played with Art Blakey's band in the 1960s. He and his brother led the Mangione Brothers Sextet/Quintet, who recorded three albums for Riverside Records before Mangione branched out with other work. One of his compositions for the Mangione Brothers Sextet, "Something Different", was recorded by Cannonball Adderley on Adderley's 1961 album African Waltz. Mangione attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester from 1958 to 1963 where he started playing the flugelhorn. He then joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, filling the trumpet chair previously held by Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham, Bill Hardman, and Lee Morgan.
In the late 1960s, Mangione was a member of the National Gallery, a band. In 1968, the band released the album Performing Musical Interpretations of the Paintings of Paul Klee. He served as the director of the Eastman jazz ensemble from 1968 to 1972. In 1970, he recorded the album Friends and Love in concert with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and guest performers. Mangione's quartet with saxophonist Gerry Niewood was a popular concert and recording act throughout the 1970s. "Bellavia", recorded during the collaboration won Mangione his first Grammy Award in 1977 in the category Best Instrumental Composition. "Bellavia" was used by WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky as background music for school closings; it was first used during the Blizzard of 1978.
In addition to his quartet with Niewood, Mangione had much success with his later-1970s ensemble, with Chris Vadala on saxophones and flutes, Grant Geissman on guitars, Charles Meeks on bass guitar, and James Bradley Jr. on drums. This version of Mangione's band recorded and toured behind the hit studio albums Feels So Good×Feels So GoodMarch 1977 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1Feels So Good9:43A2Maui-Waui10:13A3Theme From "Side Street"2:06B1Hide & Seek (Ready or Not Here I Come)6:25B2Last Dance10:54B3The XIth Commandment6:37 and Fun and Games×Fun and Games1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Give It All You Got6:172You're the Best There Is7:343Piña Colada8:154I Never Missed Someone Before9:385Give It All You Got, but Slowly4:276Fun and Games7:11 and the Children of Sanchez×Children of Sanchez1978 · Album · SoundtrackSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1Children of Sánchez (Overture)14:10A2Lullabye3:53A3Fanfare1:10B1Pilgrimage (Part I)3:01B2Pilgrimage (Part II)2:41B3Consuelo's Love Theme17:02Disc 2C1Hot Consuelo4:04C2Death Scene4:45C3Market Place3:12C4Echano2:44C5Bellavia3:17C6Lullabye3:42D1Medley8:22D2B'Bye8:30D3Children of Sánchez (Finale)3:06 soundtrack. Some band members participated in the "Tarantella×Tarantella1981 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Tarantellas3:272The Xith Commandment Suite6:363Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor7:404Bellavia6:295Hill Where the Lord Hides6:266Lake Placid Fanfare5:217Things to Come2:458'round Midnight5:569Manteca7:1010My One and Only Love4:5411All Blues" benefit concert in 1980. The song "Feels So Good" became a rare instrumental Top Ten hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.
Mangione's composition "Chase the Clouds Away×Chase the Clouds Away1975 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1Song of the New Moon6:36A2Can't We Do This All Night5:283AHe Was a Friend of Mine6:26B1Echano8:31B2Chase the Clouds Away4:52B3Soft3:31" was used at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. His composition "Give It All You Got" was the theme to the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. He performed it live on a global television broadcast at the closing ceremonies. In 1978, Mangione composed the soundtrack for the film The Children of Sanchez starring Anthony Quinn. This album won him his second Grammy, in the category Best Pop Instrumental performance in 1979. In 1980, Current Biography, a magazine, called "Feels So Good" the most recognized tune since "Michelle" by the Beatles. With the ticket sales from his 60th-birthday concert held in 2000 at Rochester's Eastman Theatre, Mangione raised more than $50,000 for St. John's Nursing Home.
In 2009, Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett, two members of Mangione's band, were killed in the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 outside of Buffalo, New York.
Mangione retired in 2015 and sold his copyrights to Primary Wave in 2024.

Acting career and television appearances

In addition to music, Mangione made appearances in television shows including Magnum, P.I. and Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show on CBC. He had a recurring role on the animated television series King of the Hill as a fictional version of himself being a celebrity spokesman for the "Mega Lo Mart", having been approached with a script a couple of months prior to the show premiering on television in 1997; noting the playing of his music to a considerable audience, Mangione agreed and even enjoyed the "great exposure" in interviews. His 2000 album Everything For Love×Everything for Love26 September 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Peggy Hill6:102Slo Ro7:083Amazing Grace7:034Seoul Sister6:185Viola7:486Fox Hunt4:157Annalise6:338I Do Everything for Love6:009Papa Mangione6:2910Freddie’s Walkin’6:59 contains a track titled "Peggy Hill" as an homage to the series.

Personal life and death

Mangione's wife, Rosemarie, died in 2015. He had two daughters, Nancy and Diana, and was a great-grandfather.
On July 22, 2025, Mangione died in his sleep at his Rochester home, at age 84.