Chuck Mangione at SPAC: ‘The finest cotton candy going’

by Bill Brina, The Knickerbocker News, August 18, 1975′

Chuck Mangione’s third annual special concert at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center last evening contained a number of parallels with his previous SPAC performances.

The weather was unseasonably cool and rain threatened. The audience was a bit sparse but wildly enthusiastic and rather knowledgeable. And the music was excellent.

There were some changes, though. The audience seemed a good bit larger than those of earlier years. The Chuck Mangione Quartet, which forms the backbone of the full ensemble’s sound, now boasts a crunchingly good, supple rhythm section consisting of drummer Joe LaBarbera and electric bassist Chip Jackson. And, as Chuck explained, he prepared for the rigors of Saratoga by going camping up in the woods the week before with brother Gap and assorted family members.

That latter expedition had developed a few problems, it seems, and Chuck tested his developing talents as a raconteur by recounting them to a sympathetic audience. A number of the observers believe that Chuck may have a natural future in television, where he may have to do that kind of thing more often. If so, he’s got a way to go before he’s a threat to Johnny Carson.

But the music was just fine. The quartet, augmented by Gap Mangione on electric piano, an orchestra, and vocalist Esther Satterfield, performed selections from all of the Mangione albums as well as a couple of new tunes.

Chuck spread around his energies, playing the flugelhorn and the electric piano and conducting, all with aplomb. The sound mix was rather good, and the orchestra was reasonably crisp, especially when one considers that Chuck was actually conducting less than half the time.

The music itself was characteristically bouncy, light, and surprisingly lush. Marigione is a master of coloration, and the sound he attains is extremely bright without ever being overbearing; full yet airy. His liberal use of Latin hom accents helps account for both effects.

The result is pop-jazz of a very high caliber. It may be “musical cotton candy,” as some critics have alleged, but it’s the finest cotton candy going.

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