AMG Review of Chase the Clouds Away

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

On Chase the Clouds Away, Chuck Mangione began to move toward the pop-oriented style that would provide the foundation for his breakthrough in 1977 with Feels So Good. Although he had demonstrated slight pop leanings on his earlier records, they were primarily in a straight jazz vein. Here, he surrendered to the warm, rich sounds of his flugelhorn and made a smooth collection of sweet pop melodies. As far as jazz content goes, there isn't much here, and there's only a handful of songs that come close to matching the effortless grace of the title track, but the whole of Chase the Clouds Away is enjoyably pleasant background music.