After Losing Two Bandmates, a Bittersweet Performance
By Luis Gronda It is with a heavy heart that jazz musician Chuck Mangione will play at Stony Brook University on March 14. Just one month ago, two of his bandmates, Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellet, were killed in the Continental Connection Flight 3407 plane crash near Buffalo, New York. The unexpected deaths of Niewood and Mellet, both longtime members, profoundly affected Mangione's band. "This is a very tight family," said Richard Burkhardt, the band’s manager. "They feel like they lost two of their own children." On his band's official website, Mangione wrote: "I'm in shock over the horrible, heartbreaking tragedy of the crash of Flight 3407 which took the lives of my dear friends and band members Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett. I am grieving and praying with their family and friends. That's all I can say for now." Mangione and Niewood grew up in Rochester, New York, where they attended the Eastman School of Music. Burkhardt recalled how long the two of them played music together. "I remember seeing a picture of them playing instruments together when they were 10 years old," he said. Mellet joined the group in 1999. At 34 years old, he was its youngest member. "When he came in, Coleman had big shoes to fill and he pulled it off," Burkhardt said, referring to Mellet's replacement of longtime guitarist Grant Giessman, who began playing with them in the the mid-1970s. Mangione enjoyed playing in the band with both of them, and Burkhardt said that their unique playing styles challenged him to improve his flugelhorn playing to heights he thought he couldn't reach. Mangione took the stage on Feb. 27 in Beaver Creek, Colorado, for the first time since Flight 3407's crash. For the show, the band invited Giessman back to perform in place of Mellet, and keyboardist Corey Allen played all of Niewood’s saxophone solos. "It was a bonding experience between the band members," Burkhardt said. Niewood and Mellet's deaths made it plausible the band's Staller Center would be canceled. But Staller Center director Alan Inkles said that they would indeed play at the university with new band members. Burkhardt declined to reveal their names. For Mangione, performing in the wake of tragedy holds a certain significance, according to his manager. "He’s really focused on honoring these guys," Burkhardt said. |
