An Evening of Magic, Live at the Hollywood Bowl

• Artist: Chuck Mangione
• Rating:
• Release Date: July 16, 1978
• Total Time: 101:19
• Type: Live
• Genre: Jazz

Review

Recorded at the height of Chuck Mangione's fame when "Feels So Good" was still busting up the charts, this double-LP set attempts to recapture the dynamism of his earlier live albums but falls short on a few counts. For one thing, the sound gives the listener no idea of what it was like to be in the audience that evening; there are only fleeting traces of the live presence and electricity of the event in this tightly mic'ed recording. For another, the sense of fresh discovery of a new voice in the Mercury sets is replaced by a mostly self-congratulatory round of reprises from earlier albums, centered in the jazz-funk idiom of Mangione's then-current quintet (the funkified "Hill Where the Lord Hides" in particular lacks the majesty and tension of the original live version). Mangione and his sidemen (Chris Vadala, winds; Grant Geissman, guitars; Charles Meeks, bass; James Bradley, Jr., drums) are sufficiently pumped up and energetic, sometimes outdoing the studio performances of the material, and there is a 70-piece orchestra of L.A. musicians who mostly form part of the scenery. The only "new" stuff (as of July 1978) is a set of excerpts from the film score to Children of Sanchez -- a heavily truncated selection from what was heard that night -- that comes off pretty well. Of the two live Mangione A&M albums, this one is a more accurate career retrospective, but Tarantella is quirkier and thus more fun. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Feels So Good	Bangles	Chuck Mangione	(9:17)
The XIth Commandment	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(6:37)
Chase the Clouds Away	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(9:38)
Hill Where the Lord Hides	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(5:26)
Doin' Everything with You	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(7:38)
Love the Feelin'	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(7:23)
I Get Crazy	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(4:15)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Land of Make Believe	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(9:09)
Hide and Seek (Ready or Not Here I Come)	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(8:39)
The Day After (Our First Night Together)	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(7:38)
Children of Sanchez [Finale]	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(6:49)
B'Bye	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(5:06)
Children of Sanchez [Finale]	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(3:55)
Main Squeeze	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(6:35)
Feels So Good (Encore)	Chuck Mangione	Chuck Mangione	(3:14)

Credits

Chuck Mangione (Percussion), Junie Osaki (Art Direction), Roland Young (Art Direction), Junie Osaki (Design), Chuck Mangione (Producer), Chuck Mangione (Horn), Chuck Mangione (Piano), Roland Young (Design)