Junior Mance

Renowned for a deeply soul-infused, blues-oriented approach to the piano while demonstrating equal mastery over bebop classics, Junior Mance launched his professional career at the age of ten. Between 1947 and 1949 he collaborated with Gene Ammons in Chicago, then spent time with Lester Young in 1950 before joining the Ammons-Sonny Stitt group until military service interrupted his work. After returning, he served as house pianist at Chicago’s Bee Hive from 1953 to 1954, accompanied Dinah Washington in 1954 and 1955, performed in the first Cannonball Adderley Quintet between 1956 and 1957, and toured for two years with Dizzy Gillespie from 1958 to 1960. Following several months with the Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis/Johnny Griffin group, Mance formed his own trio and thereafter worked chiefly as a leader. He recorded for Verve, Jazzland, Riverside, Capitol, Atlantic, Milestone, and Polydor, among other labels. In the 1980s he joined the faculty of the New School’s Jazz program in New York City. Mance continued to record into later years, issuing his final album, For My Fans, It’s All About You, in 2015—one year before retiring from music. He died on January 17, 2021, at his Manhattan residence at age 92 after a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.