A Return to Tunes That Feel So Good : Jazz: Chuck Mangione and his band will play new material from ‘The Hat’s Back’ and some of his older work tonight at Orange Coast College.

In the ‘70s, more than 2 million copies of fluegelhornist Chuck Mangione’s album “Feels So Good” were sold, making him among the most visible instrumental musicians of that decade.

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But Mangione, who never came close to repeating that achievement, sees that success as something of a fluke in a world where record companies and the buying public want vocals, with instruments subservient to the voice.

“To have a record as huge as ‘Feels So Good’ is the exception in instrumental music,” the 53-year-old fluegelhornist-composer said from his New York City home. “You can count on one hand the songs that have been that big, like ‘Take Five’ and ‘Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.’ Songs like that just don’t come around every year.”

Maybe the rarity of a successful instrumental song explains Mangione’s near invisibility over the past few years. After his enormous success with tunes such as “Feels So Good,” “The Land of Make Believe” (from his 1972 recording “The Chuck Mangione Quartet”) and his 1978 score for the film adaptation of Oscar Lewis’ novel “The Children of Sanchez,” Mangione’s spent less time in the spotlight, recording only a few albums in the ‘80s.

But that doesn’t mean he has disappeared. He returned to the road in 1994 after a four-year hiatus, making tours of the United States and South America. Tonight he and his band stop at the Robert B. Moore Theatre on the Orange Coast College campus.

And he’s shopping a new album (“The Hat’s Back”) among several record labels. The title refers to the stovepipe hat Mangione was famous for wearing during performances. The album was co-produced by Steve Gadd, Mangione’s fellow crossover pioneer. Though it consists of new material, some of which he promises will be played tonight, the approach is the same as it was in the “Feels So Good” days: memorable melodies.

“Instrumental music is a different kind of sell these days, but I feel positive about the music and the chances of finding a label. The melodic ingredient is one that I’ve always been a fan of, one that I wanted to keep in the music. The people who hear us play will be impressed with the individual performers, but they’ll go home remembering the melodies. That’s what’s important.”

It was that emphasis on pretty, accessible melodies that earned Mangione the disdain of jazz purists at the height of his career. But he paid heavy dues to get where he is, compiling an impressive list of credentials and associations along the way.

Born in Rochester, N.Y., in 1940, the young Mangione, whose father was a big jazz fan, had a chance to jam with visiting musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Sam Jones, Ron Carter and Kai Winding, while in his teens.

“In the early ‘50s, there were numerous small clubs in Rochester where the greats would come and play these intimate places. My dad would take us to the Sunday matinees to hear people like Art Blakey, Dizzy and Horace Silver and sometimes we would have a chance to get up and play with them.

“Sometimes (the musicians) would come by our house after the gig. Word had gotten out it was a place to get a good dish of spaghetti and homemade Italian wine, so the house kind of became a pit stop for the musicians traveling through town.

“There were also a lot of great local musicians in town, like Frank Strazzeri (the pianist now based in L.A.) who kept the interest going. So we got a heavy dose of the music.”

Mangione studied at Rochester’s respected Eastman School, though he says jazz was a “four-letter word” there at the time and not represented in the courses offered. So he and his brother, pianist Gap Mangione, moved to New York and formed their own band, a post-bop outfit dubbed the Jazz Brothers. (The Jazz Brothers, incidentally regrouped in 1986 for a U.S. tour.)

Mangione’s reputation as a stylish, lyrically smart trumpeter spread in New York, and he was hired to work with Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman in 1965. But his big break came when Art Blakey called him that same year to join the Jazz Messengers.

“I got lucky with that gig. Art called Dizzy for a recommendation when he needed a trumpeter and Dizzy asked him, ‘Do you remember the kid from Rochester?’ I was very fortunate to be in (Blakey’s) band at that time. Both (pianists) Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea came through that band. Frank Mitchell was the tenor player.”

Mangione spent 2 1/2 years with Blakey, touring the country and recording two albums, including “Buttercorn Lady” which was done live at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach.

In 1968, Mangione formed his own quartet, which included saxophonist Gerry Niewood, a boyhood friend. The soft, pillowy sound began to catch on. The 1972 Mercury recording, “The Chuck Mangione Quartet,” which included “The Land of Make Believe,” took off, and suddenly he was outselling many of the pop bands of the day.

Now, Mangione is hoping that “The Hat’s Back” will return him to the charts. To get inspiration for his songs, he turns to old favorites.

“I still love to listen to what I call the Zen masters of the music, the people I grew up admiring: Billie Holiday (“Lady in Satin,” “Clifford Brown With Strings”), Dizzy and Miles Davis. That’s the kind of music I turn to most of the time.”

And though he promises new material at tonight’s concert, fans of his older work won’t be disappointed.

“We’ll do things from ‘The Hat’s Back,’ but we’ll also do some older things. Sometimes they won’t let you out of town until you play a certain song. But that’s OK. Those songs are like my children. I remember and love them for what they mean to me and others.”

* Chuck Mangione plays the Robert B. Moore Theatre, Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, at 8 tonight. Tickets $25 in advance, $29 at the door. (714) 432-5880.