Listening 7- Give it all you got/ Chuck Mangione

As I was growing up, my dad listened to a lot of jazz, mainly smooth jazz, as that was what a local radio station played.  He loves Steely Dan, loves Bob James, and he loves Chuck Mangione.  Chuck is a fantastic trumpet player who has several albums with many originals.  This is one of the shorter ones that I really like.  It's 'Give it all you got' by Chuck Mangione.

This song starts out with a slow rise of chords on what is probably a synth.  The rest of the band comes in with the chord foundation for the song and then Chuck comes in with the main lick.  He is accompanied by a sax.  The sax does a solo.  The solo is probably scripted cause it has a lot of references to the main lick.  Chuck even joins in with him for a couple of notes, proving it was planned.  After the sax solo, they go back into the main lick.  The whole time the drum and bass guitar are just jamming in the back.   Now the sax really opens up with a non-scripted solo, the guitar plays the same comp as it did when it was scripted though.  Then it is Chucks turn to come in and wow us with his playing.  He can nail some pretty high notes, a feet that busts the chops of many players.  Then there is a guitar solo while the bass and drums keep trucking.  The sax and trumpet come back in with the scripted solo as the guitar keeps soloing.  They go back to the main lick and then they do a repetitive bit. Its like they don't know when to end it so they keep ending it and ending it and ending it.  As they keep re-ending it and fade out, the guitar solos some more.

There is some great playing in this piece.  I can picture a couple of guys just hanging out and smiling and laughing as they throw the lead between each other and play together.  I could be vastly mistaken, but that is what it sounds like.  And that is what he wanted to get across.  It worked.