ITG Mourns the loss of Chuck Mangione (1940-2025)
ITG Mourns the loss of Charles “Chuck” Frank Mangione (1940-2025), the celebrated American jazz flugelhornist, trumpeter, composer, and educator, passed away on July 22, 2025, at the age of 84.Born in Rochester on November 29, 1940, to an Italian-American family steeped in jazz, Mangione began piano lessons at age 8 and switched to trumpet at 10. He later studied at the Eastman School of Music (graduating in 1963) before returning to direct the Eastman jazz program.
Over a prolific six-decade career, Mangione released over 30 albums, earning 14 Grammy nominations and winning twice: in 1977 for Best Instrumental Composition (“Bellavia”), and in 1979 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance (“Children of Sanchez”).
His signature piece, “Feels So Good” (1977), became a rare crossover instrumental hit—peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Adult Contemporary chart in May‑June 1978. The track became a cultural touchstone and remains a smooth jazz standard.
Mangione also contributed compositions to the Olympic Games: “Chase the Clouds Away” featured at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and “Give It All You Got” was the theme for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid—performing it live at the closing ceremonies.
A longtime Rochester resident, Mangione was inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in 2012, and remained deeply committed to his local music community. Colleagues lauded his boundless energy and his generosity—he was known for sitting at the edge of concert stages to sign autographs and personally thank fans.
His work extended beyond music into television: Mangione voiced a fictionalized version of himself on “King of the Hill” (1997–2003), serving as the amusing spokesman for the fictitious Mega Lo Mart—a character role that earned him new popularity in pop culture. (Source: Maryna Pohlman)