Gap Mangione

Biography

Gaspare "Gap" Mangione was born and raised in Rochester, Mangione's younger brother is Grammy-winning flugelhornist Chuck Mangione. Members of a music-loving family, both Gap and Chuck took up instruments. In 1958, they started performing together as The Jazz Brothers, eventually recording three albums for Riverside Records. In 1968, Gap Mangione released his first solo album, Diana in the Autumn Wind, featuring drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Tony Levin in their first recordings, and new compos...

Gaspare "Gap" Mangione was born and raised in Rochester, Mangione's younger brother is Grammy-winning flugelhornist Chuck Mangione. Members of a music-loving family, both Gap and Chuck took up instruments. In 1958, they started performing together as The Jazz Brothers, eventually recording three albums for Riverside Records.

In 1968, Gap Mangione released his first solo album, Diana in the Autumn Wind, featuring drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Tony Levin in their first recordings, and new compositions and arrangements by Chuck Mangione who conducted as well.

The 1970s brought more solo albums along with tours with his own group and many as featured pianist in his brother's orchestral performances.

In the 1980s, Mangione settled down, spending more time playing in and around Rochester and less time on the road. In 1990, he formed The Gap Mangione New Big Band, which remains the premier dance and concert big band in the Rochester area. The New Big Band has released four CDs since 1998. Many major rappers, including Talib Kwali, have sampled Gap's Diana in the Autumn Wind for their recent works.

Today, Mangione continues to make regular appearances at Rochester locations, among them the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa (since May, 1987) and the Rochester International Jazz Festival, as well as private gigs; he can be found playing solo, with the 14-piece New Big Band, or with a quartet or sextet subset of the band.

Mangione lives in the Rochester suburb of Greece, New York with his wife, Janet; his children are Ardis Mangione-Lindley and Jason Mangione. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.