Top Artists – Chuck Mangione

Chuck Mangione – What Causes Lifeless and Pointless Sound?

More of the Music of Chuck Mangione

More Entries in Our Critical Thinking Series

We did a shootout for this album in 2012 and had a hard time finding much energy in the music. That is, until we stumbled upon a few good copies, which showed us just how well recorded the album was and how enjoyable the music could be on the right pressing.

It’s shocking just how lifeless and pointless Feels So Good can sound on some copies.

After only a few minutes the band seems to be having a hard time staying awake.

But the same performance is captured on every pressing, so how can the band sound so inspired here and so uninspired elsewhere?

It’s one of the mysteries of recorded media, one which still takes us by surprise on a regular basis, every week in fact.

This idea that most pressings do a poor job of communicating the music still has not seeped into the consciousness of the audiophile public. Here at Better Records, we’ve been diligently working to change that for close to twenty years, one Hot Stamper at a time.

The copies that are present, clear, open, transparent and energetic, with a solid rhythmic line driving the music, are a hundred times more enjoyable than the typical pressing that can be found practically unplayed (gee, I wonder why?) sitting in most record collections.

By the way, if you know Feels So Good only through the radio, you may be surprised to find that it’s close to ten minutes long, not the three minutes you’re familiar with. The band stretches out quite a bit and the solos are fairly inventive, as AMG noted.

This very side two has that problem to a fair degree; it’s a bit too murky and veiled to be as much fun as side one. But so few copies were any good at all that it still earned an A+ grade. If you turn it up it helps it quite a bit. Still, it lack extension high and low compared to this side one. (more…)

Chuck Mangione – Children of Sanchez

  • With roughly Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on all FOUR sides, this copy is close to the BEST we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner (side three actually won the shootout)
  • These sides are doing practically everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
  • We’ve called this album a Demo Disc for Bass and any Hot Stamper copy will show you why
  • “Chuck Mangione composed this music for a film soundtrack in 1978, but it quickly took on a life of its own when it was released as a two LP set, garnering a loyalty the film never enjoyed.”
  • “Mangione’s own performance on flügelhorn – sometimes hinting at Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain transported to harsher terrain – is frequently riveting, a darkly expressive, soulful element that conveys undiluted passion, sorrow, and joy.”

(more…)

Chuck Mangione / Feels So Good

  • An outstanding copy of Mangione’s 1977 release with Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • The best pressings of this record get what is inarguably his most famous song to come alive like nothing you’ve heard – who knew it could sound this good?
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, instrumental presence and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve played, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • 4 stars: “… this set from flügelhornist Chuck Mangione (which helped give guitarist Grant Geissman some fame) is actually stronger from the jazz standpoint than Mangione’s subsequent dates. The leader has some good solos, as does Geissman and saxophonist Chris Vadala, and the quintet’s ensembles are generally both sparse and attractive.”
  • If you’re a Mangione fan, this undeniable classic from 1977 is surely a Must Own

It’s shocking just how lifeless and pointless Feels So Good can sound on some copies; after only a few minutes the band seems to be having a hard time staying awake. But the same performance is captured on every pressing, so how can the band sound so inspired here and so uninspired elsewhere?

It’s one of the mysteries of recorded media, one which still takes us by surprise on a regular basis, week in and week out as a matter of fact.

The copies that are present, clear, open, transparent and energetic, with a solid rhythmic bass line driving the music, are a hundred times more enjoyable than many that can be found practically unplayed (gee, I wonder why?) sitting in most record lover’s collections.

This idea that most pressings do a poor job of communicating the music still has not seeped into the consciousness of most audiophiles, but we’re working on changing that, one Hot Stamper at a time.

By the way, if you know Feels So Good only through the radio, you may be surprised to find that it’s close to ten minutes long, not the three minutes you’re familiar with. The band stretches out quite a bit and the solos are fairly inventive, as AMG noted.

(more…)

Chuck Mangione – Children of Sanchez

More of the Music of Chuck Mangione

More Demo Discs for Bass

What’s unusual about this album — shocking really — is how MEATY the bottom end is. I don’t know of a pop jazz recording with beefier, more articulate or weightier bass. The only record I can think of in this genre of jazz with comparable bass is Grover Washington’s Winelight. We played some copies of that album recently and were just knocked out with how well recorded the bass is, just the way we were knocked out with Children of Sanchez from a month or two back. Both of them really set the standard for recording this kind of music. Needless to say we loved the sound. 

Recorded at Kendun and mastered by Robert Ludwig, the audiophile sound should be no surprise.

The horn sound is also key, not only for the flugelhorn that Chuck plays but for the trombones and French horns that fill out the arrangements. When the various horns are solid and smooth (what’s smoother than a French horn?) yet even the more subtle harmonic signatures of each instrument are clear, you have yourself a Hot Stamper.

The copies that are present, clear, open, transparent and energetic, with a solid rhythmic line driving the music, are a hundred times more enjoyable than the anemic pressings that can be found sitting in most collections practically unplayed (gee, I wonder why?).

This idea that most pressings do a poor job of communicating the music still has not seeped into the consciousness of many audiophiles, but we’re working on changing that, one Hot Stamper at a time. (more…)