It’s Not Enough: RIP Chuck Mangione (11/29/1940 – 7/22/2025)

*Given the recent passing of Chuck, this and this following story are being posted out of chronological order

Early 1980's, Right Track Recording, NYC

It’s around 2am, and we’ve been working on the same track for hours. The session is dragging—slow, dreamy, hypnotic—and everyone’s running on fumes. Chuck Mangione is in the Studio, silent but alert. We all know the track isn’t right. The groove's not landing.

Suddenly, Chuck stops the session.

The studio falls completely silent. The tension is thick. Even the microphones seem to pick up our collective apprehension. Chuck looks down for a long moment—thinking, reflecting

—then finally lifts his head. Softly but theatrically, he says:

“It was late—like this—in a little church.The priest walks up to alter and chants,‘I only make $400 a week… and it’s not enough.’”

He continues, voice still rhythmic, still soft:

“Then the bishops walks up to the alter and chants,‘I only make $800 a week… and it’s not enough.’”

Finally, he lifts his gaze and raises his voice:

“Then the organist, way up in the rafters, chimes in:‘I only make $3,000 a week…’”(He sings it now)“...and there’s no! business like show! business…”

The tension breaks instantly. Only a few chuckles from the band (because they are cool jazz musicians), and just like that, we reset, take a short break and return to the work at hand.

We caught most of the joke on tape live...

Chuck broke barriers, a large contributor of bringing jazz to popular music. He scored and recorded compositions that inspired the world.

It was more than enough!