This week’s final classic instrumental song of the day fast forwards to the late 1970s and Chuck Mangione’s “Feel So Good.” This silky slice of smooth jazz debuted in February of 1978 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #6 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. It was also #1 on Canada’s RPM Adult Contemporary chart.
“Feels So Good” was written by Chuck Mangione, who also played flugelhorn on the track. The song first appeared on Mangione’s 1977 album of the same name, which made it all the way to #2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Mangione’s band on the recording included Chris Vadala on sax, Grant Geissman on guitar, Charles Meeks on bass, and James Bradley Jr. on drums. The song was Mangione’s lone mainstream hit.
Chuck Mangione is a jazz musician from Rochester, New York, who attended the Eastman School of Music. (He later served as director of the Eastman jazz ensemble, from 1968 to 1972.) His first big professional gig was with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1966. He later formed a band called the Jazz Brothers with his brother, pianist Gap Mangione, then put together his own group, first a quartet then a quintet.
Magione’s first quartet, with saxophonist Gerry Niewood and drummer Steve Gadd, won Mangione his first Grammy Award (for Best Instrumental Composition) in 1977, for the track “Bellavia.” Mangione won a second Grammy (for Best Pop Instrumental Performance) in 1979 for the soundtrack album for the movie The Children of Sanchez. His composition “Chase the Clouds Away” was used at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and his “Give It All You Got” was the theme to the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York.
I’d been listening to Chuck Mangione for a few years before “Feels So Good” became a big thing. The first album of his I bought was 1973’s Land of Make Believe, which blended Mangione’s small group jazz with an orchestral accompaniment for several Spanish-flavored tracks. It was kind of a lite version of Sketches of Spain.
Over the years, Chuck Mangione has released close to 30 albums. (He also made several animated appearances on the television show, King of the Hill.) At 84 years of age, he’s no longer an active performer.
But here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, Chuck Mangione in his prime, performing “Feels So Good” live on some television program in 1978. (That’s Grant Geissman on that wicked guitar solo. Man!)
