Mangione’s concert pleasant, predictable

by Matthew Maguire, The Knickerbocker News, August 2, 1980

Chuck Mangione made his annual Saratoga Performing Arts Center appearance Friday in a pleasant concert with all the highs and lows one expects from a Mangione show.

Throughout a two-set sampling of material from four recent albums, the veteran Rochester pop-jazz performer displayed the bright melodies, tight harmonies and insistent funk- and Latin-flavored rhythms which have been his trademarks for years.

As always, Mangione achieved these effects with good sidemen. Reedman Chris Vadala provided searing saxophone solos and beautiful flute harmonies. Guitarist Carl Lockett played well, but not on par with his predecessor in the band, Grant Geissman.

Powerhouse drummer James Bradley Jr. propelled the funk, and bassist Charles Meeks, best of them all, played the swaying Latin rhythms and, on “Hide and Seek,” the most original solo of the night.

In Mangione’s pop-jazz, the pop is more noteworthy than the jazz. The music is best when Vadala is playing melody on a priceless Mangione ballad (“Bellavia” and “Chase the Clouds Away”) and when Mangione and Vadala are harmonizing on a bright Latin or funk piece (“Land of Make Believe” and “Children of Sanchez”).

Despite these elements of perfection — good material and good sidemen — Mangione somehow falls short of a perfect show.

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