The first album I ever bought with my own money (earned, I think, by babysitting for one of the neighborhood kids) was a two-cassette version of Chuck Mangione's 1978 concert recording An Evening Of Magic: Live At The Hollywood Bowl. This album, if you'll forgive my salty language, kicks ass.
An Evening of Magic was made on the tour for the album that preceded it--Mangione's chart-topping record Feels So Good and it features the same band. Chuck's band on this record is, to my ear, the best he ever had. These five guys Chuck on flugelhorn and electric piano, Chris Vadala on saxophones and flute, Grant Geissman on guitar, Charles Meeks on the bass, and James Bradley, Jr. on drums--work together in that way that every great band should. They anticipate each others moves, breathe as one, and constantly find new heights during both the solos and the ensemble passages. The quintet is augmented by an orchestra, but its the five-man unit that forms the heart of this recording. I still find it just as thrilling as I did in the late '80s when I bought those cassettes.
An Evening of Magic was made on the tour for the album that preceded it--Mangione's chart-topping record Feels So Good and it features the same band. Chuck's band on this record is, to my ear, the best he ever had. These five guys Chuck on flugelhorn and electric piano, Chris Vadala on saxophones and flute, Grant Geissman on guitar, Charles Meeks on the bass, and James Bradley, Jr. on drums--work together in that way that every great band should. They anticipate each others moves, breathe as one, and constantly find new heights during both the solos and the ensemble passages. The quintet is augmented by an orchestra, but its the five-man unit that forms the heart of this recording. I still find it just as thrilling as I did in the late '80s when I bought those cassettes.
