Assassinations of leaders, civil rights struggles, and the Vietnam War defined the 1960s. But somehow, by the end of the decade, the hippie movement emerged with hope for a better world.

In Rochester an unprecedented concert in May 1970 embodied that ideal. "Friends & Love" brought together Rochester's then up-and-coming jazz star Chuck Mangione, the folk duo of Don Potter and Bat McGrath, a host of future jazz and classical greats, and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

If jazz, folk, and classical music could join together, all was right with the world.

"It might sound a little foolish," says Mangione, "but it was almost an out-of-body experience when it was going down - like I was watching it happen. When I listen to the music today it's just as valid."

A lot of fans, old and new, agree. "Friends & Love" will return to the stage with almost the entire original line-up Friday-Sunday, May 25-27 for three sold-out shows.

"There really was something in the Rochester air at that time," says Mangione. "You had these two incredible guys, Bat and Don, who were playing folk music, writing original songs, and covering songs by Bob Dylan and Ray Charles. I fell in love with the voice of Don Potter and his incredible rhythm guitar playing."

In the late 1960s Mangione's first quartet (with saxophonist/flautist Gerry Niewood, who still works with Mangione) played at the Shakespeare downtown. At the Other Side of the Tracks in Pittsford pianist Gap Mangione's band included Tony Levin (bass) and Steve Gadd (drums).

Potter and McGrath performed at Highlymorris' Alley, the Ridge Road coffee house that stayed open until 4 a.m. Saturdays.

"After I got done playing at 1 a.m.," says Mangione, "I'd run over and check them out. We all became good musical friends."

"When Chuck first came down to the club he was playing the trumpet," says McGrath. "The next time he came he brought his flugelhorn. It had a softer sound and worked better with acoustic guitars. I remember Don saying, ‘Man, you should play flugelhorn all the time, you're awesome.'"

Mangione has played flugelhorn ever since.

The friendship also influenced Mangione's compositions.

"Hill Where The Lord Hides," written for "Friends & Love," described the farm near Naples where Potter and McGrath lived. "If the Lord wanted to get away from it all and find some place to hide, that might be the place," says Mangione.

"We all were very tight; everybody was inspiring everybody else. When I was asked to guest conduct the RPO, I decided to do something that would show that all these different styles would work together. If they were all performed at the highest level and the music was honest and full of love people would dig it."

McGrath recalls Mangione "talking about doing this thing with the Philharmonic. He said we should tie the whole second half of the concert together. We could do some of our songs, and then Chuck and I wrote a huge ballad that Don sang." It was the title tune, "Friends & Love."

The concert marked the first time Potter sang with an orchestra. He says Mangione was unmerciful in writing at the top of his range. But, he sings more now and says his range has expanded by two notes. He's ready.

While a student at Eastman, Mangione loved playing Brahms' Third Symphony in the orchestra. In the 1960s he was listening to jazz albums with orchestral arrangements: Billie Holiday's "Lady in Satin," Stan Getz' "Focus," and "Clifford Brown with Strings."

"I fell in love with strings," says Mangione.

But merging musical worlds was not easy. "Tony Levin had poison ivy on his hands at the rehearsal. Steve Gadd was in the service in California. He took I don't know how many puddle jumpers to do this concert. Don and Bat weren't exactly the kind of guys that were hanging out downtown. At rehearsals they fell by kind of casually. It wasn't that they were irresponsible, they were laid back. I don't think we ever played all of the music all the way through," Mangione says.

Potter concurs: "Chuck took a chance that no one else would take, bringing a couple of grubby folksingers into an orchestra - talk about sticking your neck out - linking in some jazz, bringing in Stanley Watson, a classical guitarist. He had a lot of courage. He pressed the albums and literally sold them out of the trunk of his car." Mercury Records eventually picked up the album.

Watson, a superb guitarist, died in the late 1970s. Mangione says he can't be replaced, so that segment of the concert will feature other orchestral arrangements. (When I suggested "Bellavia" and "Chase The Clouds Away" Mangione would not confirm or deny. But he said I was, "real hot" - "I don't think there's a more melodic, powerful, orchestral composition that's more special to me than ‘Bellavia.'")

Potter and McGrath first collaborated in The Showstoppers, a mid-1960s band. In 1970 they released a duo album and appeared on the "David Frost Show," but never caught on nationally.

They were socially active, taking four busloads of fans to Washington for an anti-war rally. "Rochester was a tough town," says McGrath, whose lyrics for "Friends & Love" reflected the hippie credo of peace and harmony. "We were the only band with long hair. We couldn't go out to eat after playing because the bowlers would punch us out. Our feeling was we would do something to help change things."

Thirty-seven years after "Friends & Love," Potter and McGrath still work together often in Nashville. Potter moved there in 1981 after signing with a top producer. When nothing happened he fell back on other skills.

"I'm finally on music row, but I'm working as a carpenter," he says.

One day a friend asked him to help record demos for a mother and daughter duo. The Judds were born. Potter was a key player in 15 Judds albums, spawning 13 consecutive No. 1 singles. He's also worked with Clint Black, Faith Hill, Randy Travis, and many others. Potter and his wife, Christine, lead a ministry and are also active in Christian music.

McGrath, who moved to Los Angeles in the 1980s, found the disco era a tough time for singer-songwriters. In 1986, his old friend called and invited him to Nashville.

Potter's success with The Judds spread to McGrath, who wrote "Come Some Rainy Day," a top-five country hit for Wynonna in 1997. He's also written songs for Earl Thomas Conley and Kenny Rogers. McGrath lives outside Nashville with his wife, Tricia Cast, former star of "The Young and the Restless."

Mangione reconnected with Potter two years ago when Potter played at a Rochester church. McGrath's reunion came when Mangione played at a Nashville club.

"To marry those styles of music and do it as gracefully as Chuck did it, that's literally why it was called ‘Friends & Love,'" says Potter. "It had to do with friendship, which later on I realized was the sound of Rochester.

"Every city has a sound. Detroit has a sound; Nashville and Atlanta have sounds. Rochester has a sound based on friends playing together. What comes out of the synergy that comes from their energy is the most valuable thing that came out of that," Potters says.

As for the magnitude of "Friends & Love," Mangione says he was young and foolish in 1970 and had the audacity to pull it off. He acknowledges the help of RPO Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik in organizing the upcoming reunion concert.

"Nothing can ever be the way it was," says Mangione. "That evening was a once-in-a-life-time experience that happened because of everything going on at that time. These performances will have the energy and emotion of what everybody experienced then and everything that's happened to them since. Everybody's made an international mark on the music world."

Lew Soloff, who replaces Marvin Stamm on trumpet, played with Blood Sweat & Tears, Gil Evans and many others. He'll solo on "The Feel Of A Vision," Mangione's first orchestral piece, originally written as Soloff's Eastman graduation recital piece.

Gadd has gone on to play with Chick Corea, Eric Clapton, and hundreds more. Levin has played with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and many others. Rochester favorite Gap Mangione recorded extensively with his brother.

Of course, many fans in the 1970 audience will also be back. They played a role too.

"There was an older stage hand - he'd been at the Eastman Theatre forever," says McGrath. "After the concert he told us that was the loudest and longest applause he'd ever heard in the Eastman Theatre. He said it was even louder and longer than when they announced the end of World War II. It was magic."

"Friends & Love" takes Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 27, at 7 p.m. at the Eastman Theatre, 26 Gibbs Street. Tickets are sold out. For more information visit http://www.rpo.org/, or call 454-2100.