Jazz Legend Chuck Mangione Dies Aged 84

Renowned jazz icon Chuck Mangione, best known for the international hit single Feels So Good, has passed away at the age of 84.

Born Charles Frank Mangione in 1940 in Rochester, New York, the celebrated musician died of natural causes at his home, his manager confirmed to TMZ.

Reflecting on his approach to music in a 1972 interview, Mangione said:
“For a long time I lived in the shell of the so-called jazz musician, who said, ‘To hell with the people. I’m the artist, I know what’s right, and I’m going to play for myself. If they like it, fine; if they don’t, too bad.’

“Well, that’s partially true, but you can still maintain your musical conviction and try to communicate with people.

“For me, lifting the people up, making them enjoy what we’re doing is as important as it is for me to play the kind of music I want to play. Both are very possible.”

A gifted trumpeter and flugelhorn player, Mangione studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, renowned for its jazz programme.

He began his career in the 1960s, performing alongside his pianist brother Gap Mangione. He also played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers as a trumpeter before rising to fame as a solo artist.

Mangione’s breakthrough came in the 1970s when he formed a jazz quartet with saxophonist Gerry Niewood. His 1977 album Feels So Good propelled him to global fame.

The album featured the full nine-minute version of the instrumental title track, which reached number two on the Billboard 200. A shorter, three-minute version released the following year also became a major commercial success.

Throughout his decades-long career, Mangione won two Grammy Awards. He received his first in 1977 for the instrumental composition Bellavia, and a second for his work on the soundtrack to the 1978 Anthony Quinn film The Children of Sanchez, for which he also composed the score.

Mangione’s compositions were also featured at two Olympic Games – Chase the Clouds Away at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and Give It All You’ve Got, which served as the theme for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.