Gap Mangione is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger & big band leader Gap Mangione. This telephone interview goes back to the radio days. At that time I was playing the Gap Mangione album called Stolen Moments, a pretty diverse collection of tunes, composed by everyone from Paul Simon to Henry Mancini and of course a couple written by Gap Mangione himself. Gap Mangione, born Gaspare Mangione, comes from an Italian-American family in Rochester, New York. He started playing piano from a very young age. With his brother, the flugelhorn and trumpeter Chuck Mangione, they led the musical group called “The Jazz Brothers.” Gap Mangione has recorded a number of acclaimed recordings starting with his first release Diana in the Autumn Wind in 1968 and most recently, Live in Toronto which features the Gap Mangione Quintet. His music has been sampled by several prominent rappers.
