Chuck Mangione - Children Of Sanchez (1979)

Chuck Mangione - Children Of Sanchez (1979)

jazz | 2cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 510MB

A&M

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. Its film origins certainly show both in the purely atmospheric quality of some of the music and in the earnest vocals and awkward lyrics that introduce the suite and later reappear. However, the simple themes and the powerful, minimal orchestrations--brass and drums for funereal military music; cello, flute, guitar, and eerie voice for the very pretty "Consuelo's Love Theme"--retain a strong appeal. 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.
Allmusic:
Thanks to the Latin-inflected title track, Children of Sanchez became another huge hit for Chuck Mangione. The title song even earned him a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and serious jazz listeners will spot a problem with that award -- it was for pop, not jazz. That, of course, is an accurate assessment of Mangione's music, since there isn't much improvisation on the album at all. Instead, there's a selection of Spanish and Latin-flavored instrumentals, arranged as if to give the impression that the album is a song cycle. If so, it's a song cycle/concept album that doesn't go anywhere. Nevertheless, there's enough pleasant music here to satisfy fans of his pop stylings.

Tracks
cd1
-1. Children Of Sanchez (Overture)
-2. Lullabye
-3. Fanfare
-4. Pilgrimage (Part 1)
-5. Pilgrimage (Part2)
-6. Consuelo's Love Theme
cd2
-1. Hot Consuelo
-2. Death Scene
-3. Market Place
-4. Echano
-5. Bellavia
-6. Lullabye
-7. Medley
-8. B'Bye

 sample & buy: Children of Sanchez

 

9. Children Of Sanchez (Finale)