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| A Career in Jazz |
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Page 1 of 4 Interview by Lance BoosChuck Mancuso is not the typical music professor at Buffalo State College. In a curriculum that focuses so strongly on the traditions of classical music, Professor Mancuso has etched out a nearly 40 year career teaching jazz and popular music. The scope of his knowledge is encyclopedic, expertly covering jazz, blues, rock, folk, country, and the Hollywood musical; all of which he covers in his various courses, and his massive book, Popular Music and the Underground: Foundations of Jazz, Blues, Country and Rock, 1900-1950. His Jazz and Rock Foundations class, which is offered in three sections every semester, as well as during the summer, is one of the most popular offerings at Buffalo State.  (left) Old classroom, 1976 (right) New classroom, 2003 Mancuso is moderately tall and athletic, still playing basketball regularly despite his gray and white hair and beard. His attire tends to be casual but professional, often forgoing the suit-and-tie look in favor of a sweater or turtleneck and sport coat. He has a smooth baritone voice, which maintains a soft tone even when projecting to a room full of 80 students. Chuck now boasts an extraordinary collection of jazz and blues records, ranging from obscure vinyl albums from the 1950s up to newer CD releases and classic reissues. The front line of this collection occupies an entire wall of shelving in his living room, while countless more albums are in storage elsewhere.
To even amass such a collection of resources is impressive, and Mancuso is always updating. He reads several newspapers every day, scanning the arts and entertainment sections for relevant articles, which he saves. The articles and photos often find their way onto the slides, or are photocopied as handouts for his students. |
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His spacious Ashland Ave. home also contains a vast library of books, articles, videos, and slides; many of which are incorporated into Mancuso's lectures. His teaching style is very visual, and his class is literally a multimedia event, matching sound clips from classic recordings with slideshows of album covers, artist photos, and videos of interviews and performances. This approach makes his classes tremendously interesting, but demands a great deal of work on the part of Professor Mancuso. "It takes constant editing" he grins. "The students don't see the hours of work that I put in to this at home." Indeed, every semester the array of photos and sound clips changes slightly.