1. When he was five years old, Mance started playing piano on an upright in his family's home in Evanston.
18 Facts About Junior Mance
1. 2.
Junior Mance's mother encouraged him to study medicine at nearby Northwestern University in Evanston, but agreed to let him attend Roosevelt College in Chicago instead.
3.
Junior Mance first played with Gene Ammons in Chicago in 1947 while he was enrolled at Roosevelt.
4.
Young's piano player, Bud Powell, had missed his flight to Chicago, and Young asked Junior Mance to replace him, thinking Junior Mance was a fill-in rather than Ammons' regular pianist.
5.
Junior Mance recorded with Young for Savoy Records that year, and reunited with Ammons to record with Sonny Stitt for Prestige Records in 1950.
6.
Charlie Parker encouraged Junior Mance to move to New York, which he did after saving money from working nearly a year at the Bee Hive.
7.
In 1954, Junior Mance was asked to record with Dinah Washington after Wynton Kelly was drafted.
8.
Junior Mance toured with Washington over the next two years and learned accompaniment technique from Washington's arranger, Jimmy Jones.
9.
In 1956, Junior Mance joined Cannonball Adderley's first civilian band, along with Nat Adderley, Sam Jones, and Jimmy Cobb.
10.
Dinah Washington hired this group to back her on In the Land of Hi-Fi, and Junior Mance recorded sessions with Johnny Griffin, James Moody, and Wilbur Ware for Argo Records and Riverside during this period.
11.
Junior Mance backed Gillespie and Louis Armstrong during a televised performance of the song "Umbrella Man" on CBS in January 1959.
12.
Junior Mance recorded for major labels Capitol and Atlantic, including one date featuring Junior Mance on harpsichord and a fusion album.
13.
Junior Mance cited Carter's broad-mindedness as an inspiration for his own stylistic explorations.
14.
Junior Mance continued to record and perform during the next three decades, albeit at a less intense pace.
15.
Junior Mance made several duet recordings with bassist Martin Rivera, and two solo piano recordings for Canadian label Sackville Records, Junior Mance Special and Jubilation.
16.
Junior Mance taught at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music for 23 years, counting Brad Mehldau and Larry Goldings among his students before retiring in 2011.
17.
From 1990 to 2009 Junior Mance was part of a group called "100 Gold Fingers" which frequently toured Japan.
18.
Junior Mance died in New York of a brain hemorrhage that he had suffered after a fall, aged 92.