Agree about Mangione. Good player and composer with his own sound.
While he can fairly be categorized as a "soft-jazz" artist, he is
one of the few artists in that genre that has a feel-good sound without the
all-too-common "Look how hip I am!" quality that many soft or
smooth jazz "artists" exude. There is an element of sincerity in
his sound and his bands have always been top-notch. Of special note was
the presence of Gerry Niewood on saxophone/flute on his earlier records,
until the tragic airplane accident (on the way to a concert) that killed two
band members a couple of years ago. Gerry's soprano solo on "Land
Of Make Believe" is one of those solos that young saxophone players
study as models in this genre; beautiful playing without the usual pop-jazz
saxophone affectations.
v=WtRxKRS0r8g>http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WtRxKRS0r8g
While he can fairly be categorized as a "soft-jazz" artist, he is
one of the few artists in that genre that has a feel-good sound without the
all-too-common "Look how hip I am!" quality that many soft or
smooth jazz "artists" exude. There is an element of sincerity in
his sound and his bands have always been top-notch. Of special note was
the presence of Gerry Niewood on saxophone/flute on his earlier records,
until the tragic airplane accident (on the way to a concert) that killed two
band members a couple of years ago. Gerry's soprano solo on "Land
Of Make Believe" is one of those solos that young saxophone players
study as models in this genre; beautiful playing without the usual pop-jazz
saxophone affectations.
v=WtRxKRS0r8g>http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WtRxKRS0r8g