JAZZ REVIEWS : MEDIOCRE MANGIONE

Chuck Mangione’s appearance at the Universal Amphitheater Friday night was yet another example of the fluegelhornist’s capacity to endure without providing anything new to his faithful audience. Armed with an unchanging repertoire of melodically lilting tunes that ramble innocuously over simplistic rhythmic and chordal patterns, Mangione’s mediocrity continues to flourish.

For this performance, Mangione’s septet was augmented by a 30-piece orchestra that provided lush backdrops to most of his tunes. As his fluegelhorn chops are all but shot and his piano playing remains limited to insignificant doodling, the presence of the orchestra gave the diminutive Mangione something to do on stage: primarily bounce around in a most unorthodox manner of conducting. Although there were few musical highlights of Mangione’s concert appearance (his own soloing is limited to short phrases), solid vocal performances were turned in by bassist Gordon Johnson on “Freddie’s Walkin’,” guitarist Rob Mathes on “Children of Sanchez,” and Regina Brown on “Land of Make-Believe.” Saxophonist Chris Vadala took several extended solos in an effective, if uninspired, fashion.