November 29, 1940 – July 22, 2025

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Chuck Mangione passed away on July 22, 2025 at the age of 84.

He was born on Nov. 29, 1940 in Rochester, New York, having piano lessons but switching to the trumpet after seeing the Kirk Douglas film Young Man With A Horn.

His parents were jazz enthusiasts and many notables were invited to the family house including Dizzy Gillespie who gave Mangione a trumpet in the early 1950s.

He played in a group with his older brother pianist Gap Mangione which became the bebop group the Jazz Brothers; they recorded three albums for the Riverside label during 1960-61.

Chuck Mangione led his first solo album in 1962 (Recuerdo) and graduated from the Eastman School the following year.

After moving to New York, Mangione worked briefly with the Woody Herman Orchestra, Kai Winding, and the Maynard Ferguson Big Band before becoming a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers during 1965-67, a period in which Keith Jarrett was the group’s pianist.

While Dizzy Gillespie was a formative influence on his playing, in 1968 Mangione largely switched to flugelhorn, forming a quartet with altoist Gerry Niewood.

He wrote compositions for large ensembles and guest conducted the Rochester Philharmonic in 1970, resulting in the album Friends and Love.

Mangione had his first hit with “Hill Where the Lord Hides,” toured with his quartet, and performed with orchestras, often featuring the vocals of Esther Satterfield.

His melodic music became very popular including “Land Of Make Believe,” “Legend Of The One-Eyed Sailor,” “Chase the Clouds Away” and “Bellavia.”

In 1977, Mangione’s recording of “Feels So Good” (which featured guitarist Grant Geissman) reached #2 on the pop charts and made him a household name.

In 1980, Mangione looked back to his bebop roots on the two-Lp set Tarantella which had Dizzy Gillespie as a guest.

The flugelhornist did not have any further hits and, after a reunion of the Jazz Brothers in 1986 and the release of a few albums on his Feels So Good label, he largely retired, coming back briefly in the late 1990s.

From 1979, Chuck Mangione plays “Feels So Good,” his greatest hit.

-Scott Yanow

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