Customer Reviews

Live at the Hollywood Bowl

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Recently, while looking here on amazon to see if Main Squeeze had yet been re-mastered and reissued, I encountered An Evening of Magic. I don't know why I did not already have this on vinyl. Perhaps I ignored it when it was released because I was justifiably leery of "live" recordings and then subsequently just forgot about it. Anyhow, when I saw that the entire Main Squeeze album was on this CD, I ordered it, Main Squeeze itself being unavailable at any reasonable price. And as it turns out, I was really missing out on some great music all these years.
An Evening of Magic features a live performance of Chuck Mangione with his quartet and the LA Philharmonic at the peak of his popularity. Mangione is absolutely on fire, its clear that he came to play. After one listen, all my reservations about how he would sound on a live album melted away. This is indeed Chuck Mangione at his finest.
Though the whole CD is excellent, I do have some favorite cuts. Highlights are a dreamy Chase the Clouds Away, the romantic Doin' Everything With You, the brassy Love The Feelin', the dramatic I Get Crazy, the mellow classic Land of Make Believe, the relaxing The Day After (Our First Night Together), and two movements of Mangione's rousing Children of Sanchez.
If you are as leery of "live" recordings as I usually am, you needn't be with this one. An Evening of Magic, Live at the Hollywood Bowl is one live recording that belongs in every jazz lover's collection.

I'm a die hard Chuck Mangione fan! I have all is records! When I first got into Mangione's music, I was about 11 years old. I went to my local record shop twice and in those two visits, I maintained all of Chuck's albums, and I mean all of them. I saved up twenty bucks, bought a bunch of Mangione albums, then about two weeks later, got some more money saved and bought the rest. I was lucky this record shop had all of Chuk's albums! One of the records I first got a hold of and enjoyed was this one, after Feels So Good, of course. This album starts off with Mangione's most popular song, at the time, and probally the reason he did preform at The Hollywood Bowl, in July 17, 1978; Feels So Good. With a long flugel horn intro, James Bradley Jr. comes in rippin' on the drums and Grant Geissman's rhythm guitar is on fire! This is a killer version of that song. Next is 11th Commandment, which I find odd, that Mangione chose to feature Bradley, human dynamo on the drums, this early in the concert, anyway. James gives a fantastic drum solo, and bassist, CHarles "meat man" Meeks gives a fine mellow jazz bass solo. Next is the long, Chase The Clouds Away, which is a beautiful song, by the way. This one features a lot of Chris Vadala's flute playing and a lot of string orchestra. The song, Hill Where The Lord Hides, is introduced as, "This one made it possible for us to get out of Rochester Ny once in a while," by Chuck which, by the way, was the way he introduced it every time I saw him in concert after that! (funny) Again, a slam bang preformance. The rest of disk one is all songs from the Main Squeeze album. I love the album, but dont know why Chuck did all these songs in a row, but it probally just turned out that way; after all he had no say in what order they came out on record, anyway.....
I Get Crazy, is fantastic. Another "Avant Garde," style song, if you will. It's got a lot of heavy grooves and improvisations! With the next disc, you're in for a treat. The hot, Land Of Make Believe! This is a legendary version of his classic tune. Meat Man Meeks got another solo on this record with, Hide And Seek. He doesn't get it until the end, so the whole song isn't just low boring bass solos, but it would be with this extraudinary player! Another, on fire tune here, is the appearence of, CHildren Of Sanchez, which was previously unheard of at the time, but it brings down the house. With the rip rawin' Main Squeeze and another version of the suite, Children Of Sanchez, the group closes with the finale, of Feels So Good. I gurantee old Chuck fans have this, but new comer might not, and definately should! If you like the old recordings of Feels So Good and Bellevia ( the albums) you'll love this, because they're practically the same, only the versions here have more, "pasazze!" I was surprised to see the reissue of this to cd, and love it! Every time I put this cd in the mix, I absolutely love it!

"Live at the Hollywood Bowl" is a live recording in a class all it's own. If you thought Mangione was great in the studio, this live recording will blow you away. Backed by some of the most talented musicians and a huge orchestra, it is truly a musical masterpiece that you will literally enjoy again and again.

As a child growing up, I loved listening to the LP. Now, finally available on CD, it's great to listen to all over again.

Please, if you truly love great music, get this. I promise that you will be glad you did.

Back in 1980, I had the privilege of getting to see Chuck Mangione at Ravinia in Chicago and I was blown away. I was a Junior in High School and had never really heard of him -- our Jazz Bland had played "Chase the Clouds Away" (not doing it justice!) but this concert was one of the best evenings I ever had up until then.

Shortly after that concert, I bough the LP version of this and was thrilled because it was pretty much the Ravinia concert all over again. Of course, as the years wore on and the LP wore out and technology gave way to CDs, this was out of print for quite awhile. I had bought other Mangione CDs but they just weren't the same -- they didn't have the same magic and the arrangements were just not quite right (one of them had a vocal version of Chase The Clouds Away .... yuck!)

The title of this CD really lives up to its title... it was an evening of magic when Mangione was at the top of his game. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys instrumental jazz that doesn't take itself too seriously by being "out there" and for anyone who loves the pure beauty of brass.

[NCJAR]

I wish that there was a music category called "Jazz Performance with Full Orchestra Accompaniment". Those who have heard 'Hubert Laws, The San Francisco Concert', or 'Phil Woods/Floresta Canto, or Bob James Two, or Sadao Watanabe/How's Everything', will know what I mean.

Like all of the aforementioned, 'Chuck Mangione/Live at the Hollywood Bowl' is a must for anyone who enjoys listening to Jazz music at it's absolute fullest. While I haven't even opened my new CD yet (I continue to prefer to listen to the fidelity of my old vinyl recordings), I plan to put it in my car today.

The energy and robustness of this recording completely fills whatever environment you are sitting in, compelling you to want to just sit back, close your eyes, and enjoy the experience (although I suppose quite dangerous if I'm listening to it in my car). This is the one "must have" album for all Chuck Mangione fans.

If after listening to this album and finding that you agree with this assessment, you will need to check out the other albums I mentioned above. What are some other albums in this category that are recommended?

I first bought this on vinyl in 1979. It was magic then, and is still magic today. Back when I was 17, I was spending a summer in Tucson with my grandparents, and that's when I bought this LP. I played it over and over on their old cabinet-size stereo. Later, I would listen to it on my home stereo turned up to "11", and I was mezmerized by the lush strings and soaring horn section. Chuck's improvisations escaped my meager abilities on the trumpet in high-school, but I could hum them from memory all day long. The rest of the band is truly at the top of their game, as well. Grant Geissman's solo on "Chase The Clouds Away" is simply the best guitar solo of any genre in the history of music. Charles Meeks, James Bradley, Jr., and Chris Vadala give the performances of a lifetime. My favorite track is "I Get Crazy". It's short, but powerful. The layered ending comes to an abrupt, but spectacular end in a great sixteenth note run. There are no bad tracks or "skip-overs" here. "B'Bye" is a great expression of mourning and loss sandwiched between two movements of a towering "Children Of Sanchez". The album cover photos clearly show the sheet music to "Legend Of The One-Eyes Sailor" and I wish that this work had not ended up on the edit room floor. Maybe the powers-that-be will add the original set tunes back and release a full picture of this concert, warts and all (provided there are any warts, which I doubt). On the other hand, this was a 2 night event, so even with some editing, both shows could be brought together with all of the tunes included.

Over the years, I've probably listened to this album in some form or another probably 1000 or more times. It's the only recording I have on vinyl, cassette tape (remember those?) and CD. Now I play it over and over on my iPod, and on my computer thru iTunes. Funny how the tech has changed over the years, but you still keep coming back to the music that set your soul ablaze. Mick Guzauski, Jeff Tkazyik, and Chuck knew what they were doing when they sat down in the studio and mixed this album. The strings are rich and warm, the horn section is balanced and soaring, and the quartet sounds like they're in your room with you. If this didn't win the Grammy for sound editing, then I envy whatever recording did.

6 out of 5 stars.

Great CD! The only thing wrong with it is the entire Concert isn't available. I would have loved to hear the whole Children of Sanchez portion of the show. The quality of the recording is perfect. You can hear every little nuance. This is one of my most favorite Albums ever. And that is a statement from one of the biggest Led Zeppelin fans. I started my music career in High School playing trumpet then added playing the Drums. I just about wore the album out trying to play along with trumpet and drums. I eventually had a short but fun music career, teaching and playing live. When I hear these great musicians playing together I can almost see them in my minds eye.

Before the release of the original album, I remember seeing on my local PBS channel, Chuck Mangione-Live From Wolf Trap. It was the same program as they played at the Hollywood Bowl. I wish they had a video/DVD available. I knew right then and there if they put this out on a Record, I was going to buy it. I did then and I bought it again when it came out on CD. I wish they had video taped the Hollywood Bowl concert.

I notice that a lot of these reviews describe emotions that this CD brings out in you whether now or remembering the first time you heard it on vinyl 25 years ago. This brings me to why I titled this review "Best Recorded Drum Performance Ever". Not only is Chuck right on but also when I hear James Bradley Jr. start playing one of his Samba beats I almost can't contain myself. EXCELLENT! Very few times does a performance come off as perfect; this is truly one of them.

This CD is worth every penny and will sure to give you years of listening pleasure.

During the 1960s in my native Rochester NY, we had all heard of the famous "Jazz Brothers", where Gap Mangione included his kid brother Chuck on trumpet in his already established trio, that other band regionally famous for the indie-label "Diana In the Autumn Wind". My father was then an Eastman Kodak co-worker of their father Frank. But, like the guys I hung with back then, I was into the Beatles and the Stones--my side interest in jazz being largely centered on Brubeck and Miles, the "big guys". Then in 1970, the whole western New York region rang with talk about the "Friends & Love" concert. I didn't get to go to that event personally, but when it came out the following year as a double LP on Mercury, I grabbed it. From the opener "Hill Where the Lord Hides" (also featured here), Mangione introduced me to an orchestra-based not-entirely-jazz, which partly brought to mind the then-reigning TV soundtrack king Lalo Schifrin, but which I had first heard Brubeck do on his "Time Changes" release in the sidelong epic "Elementals". Needless to say, it's always great to grab a recording you've never heard anything from and have it turn out great. But I couldn't help but kick myself for not having attended the concert personally. Over the years, Chuck has wavered between occasional forays back to the bebop he played with his brother, a smoother sound possibly influenced by his signing to A & M by label founder Herb Alpert (although not necessarily the "nutra-Latin" sound that made his new boss famous), and the occaisional reminder that, after all, this man has often been a professor at one of the world's finest music schools. Before you take at face value the frequent claim that Chuck helped found "smooth jazz", you might want to refer to this album for a good counter-argument. Except for "Hill Where the Lord Hides", what is featured here is a sampling of what he's done since those halcyon days. Such as the title track to "Chase the Clouds Away"--give it a click and a listen, you'll see what I mean. It's not perfect--inclusion of Chuck's played-to-death megahit "Feels So Good" (not only once but encored as well) is what dropped my rating from 5 down to 4 stars. But you can pick this one up to hold you over until some of us can nag Chuck's management by e mail into re-releasing "Friends & Love" on CD.

I have been a Mangione fan as long as I can remember! Being a Trumpet player for 20 years, I have never hard such a rich,dark and beautiful tone from a flugelhorn. Live at Hollywood Bowl has to be one of his best recordings. His quartet is one of the best ever put together! I think the live version of Hill Where The Lord Hides is one of the best I have heard. Not to mention Land of Make Believe and Children of Sanchez. It is a recording I will always have in my collection and one I'll always have next to any system I can listen to music on!!!!

This is the 5th time I've bought this recording. Two albums, two CDs and a cassette - each time I've worn out the others (yes a CD). While I am not a big fan of his studio stuff, this live recording is outstanding and well worth it.