Though Chuck Mangione would become an international superstar in the 1970s with smooth jazz mega-hits like “Feels So Good,” and “Chase the Clouds Away,” he started out as bebop trumpeter in the Dizzy Gillespie tradition.
While Chuck was studying at the Eastman School, he and his brother Gap (keyboards) co-led a bop group called The Jazz Brothers, which recorded several albums for the Jazzland label.
About this 1960 album, Scott Yanow at AllMusic writes this was “not only the debut recording of trumpeter Chuck Mangione but is the first appearance on record by tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico, pianist Gap Mangione, and drummer Roy McCurdy; altoist Larry Combs and bassist Bill Saunders complete the group.”
I can’t blame Mangione for wanting to make a good living, but this early material is some fine jazz. The Jazz Brothers recorded two further albums, and then moved on.