Friday, June 6, 2008
Last updated: Friday June 6, 2008, EDT 5:47 AM
BY EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER
WHO: Chuck Mangione and His Feels So Good Band.
WHAT: Smooth jazz.
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Tarrytown Music Hall, 13 Main St., Tarrytown, N.Y.; 877-840-0457 or tarrytownmusichall.org.
HOW MUCH: $38 to $58.
WHERE TO HEAR: chuckman gione.com.
Smooth jazz legend Chuck Mangione had two dreams as a youngster: playing for the Yankees and playing for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.Image courtesy of scaruffi.com
He thought that perhaps he could do both, a day job and a night job. After all, he sometimes played several baseball games a day before his mother drove him to an Italian wedding or a bar mitzvah, where he entertained guests with his trumpet.
Only one dream ended up coming true: Mangione did play with the Jazz Messengers after a stint with his brother Gap in a band they called the Jazz Brothers. The Messengers experience launched his career as a jazz superstar, though he soon switched to the flugelhorn.
More than 50 years after he picked up his first instrument, the Grammy Award-winning musician is still on tour, and he's coming to the Tarrytown Music Hall with his Feels So Good band. The band name refers to one of his best-known tunes.
"When we go to Tarrytown, I'm sure I'm going to see people who attended every performance that I had at Tarrytown," said Mangione. "We've existed for a long, long time. People have a connection to your music. ... I have people tell me how important this particular record was to them. How they fell in love to this particular music. When they were down, another composition lifted their spirits.
"It's a very humbling experience to hear the stories and experience of people who have been touched by this music," he added.
Although he reached the zenith of his fame in the '70s and '80s, Mangione experienced a resurgence after his animated cameo in the television show "King of the Hill."
"Not long ago, this guy comes dragging his kid over and says, 'You're Chuck Mangione, right? I'm a big fan.' And the kid says, 'Hey, you're that guy from 'King of the Hill!' " Mangione said with a chuckle.
The character was drawn with Mangione's trademark brimmed hat, which has unintentionally become his iconic accessory.
"Way back in 1970, I got it as a gift from two good friends," said Mangione. "I wore it occasionally. Then it became the cover for an album of mine called 'Friends and Love.' ... I went out on tour, and the record company said, 'Where's the hat?' So I started wearing that, and that became part of the image.
"It's not the same hat, and certainly I don't wear it all the time," he added. "It would be hard to shower."
With that same serendipity, Mangione accidentally returned to the dream that he left behind. His music gained a staunch fan: Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
"George asked me to play the anthem at Yankee Stadium," he said. "Then we would be playing at Fort Lauderdale when they had spring training. We would go to the games, and the ballplayers would come to our concerts. They got to know us."
Like any other Mangione performance, the anthem is played with his unique aesthetic.
"Play it clean, play it straight from the heart," he said.
It's his simple, crisp tone — and his irrepressible playfulness — that keeps bringing fans back to a song he wrote. You might even call it his personal anthem.
"I'd just love to have people come out to Tarrytown," he said. "It's a wonderful, intimate setting. I guarantee that they're gonna feel so good!"
He thought that perhaps he could do both, a day job and a night job. After all, he sometimes played several baseball games a day before his mother drove him to an Italian wedding or a bar mitzvah, where he entertained guests with his trumpet.
Only one dream ended up coming true: Mangione did play with the Jazz Messengers after a stint with his brother Gap in a band they called the Jazz Brothers. The Messengers experience launched his career as a jazz superstar, though he soon switched to the flugelhorn.
More than 50 years after he picked up his first instrument, the Grammy Award-winning musician is still on tour, and he's coming to the Tarrytown Music Hall with his Feels So Good band. The band name refers to one of his best-known tunes.
"When we go to Tarrytown, I'm sure I'm going to see people who attended every performance that I had at Tarrytown," said Mangione. "We've existed for a long, long time. People have a connection to your music. ... I have people tell me how important this particular record was to them. How they fell in love to this particular music. When they were down, another composition lifted their spirits.
"It's a very humbling experience to hear the stories and experience of people who have been touched by this music," he added.
Although he reached the zenith of his fame in the '70s and '80s, Mangione experienced a resurgence after his animated cameo in the television show "King of the Hill."
"Not long ago, this guy comes dragging his kid over and says, 'You're Chuck Mangione, right? I'm a big fan.' And the kid says, 'Hey, you're that guy from 'King of the Hill!' " Mangione said with a chuckle.
The character was drawn with Mangione's trademark brimmed hat, which has unintentionally become his iconic accessory.
"Way back in 1970, I got it as a gift from two good friends," said Mangione. "I wore it occasionally. Then it became the cover for an album of mine called 'Friends and Love.' ... I went out on tour, and the record company said, 'Where's the hat?' So I started wearing that, and that became part of the image.
"It's not the same hat, and certainly I don't wear it all the time," he added. "It would be hard to shower."
With that same serendipity, Mangione accidentally returned to the dream that he left behind. His music gained a staunch fan: Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
"George asked me to play the anthem at Yankee Stadium," he said. "Then we would be playing at Fort Lauderdale when they had spring training. We would go to the games, and the ballplayers would come to our concerts. They got to know us."
Like any other Mangione performance, the anthem is played with his unique aesthetic.
"Play it clean, play it straight from the heart," he said.
It's his simple, crisp tone — and his irrepressible playfulness — that keeps bringing fans back to a song he wrote. You might even call it his personal anthem.
"I'd just love to have people come out to Tarrytown," he said. "It's a wonderful, intimate setting. I guarantee that they're gonna feel so good!"
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