Junior Mance
THE JUNIOR
MANCE TRIO (3 LPS ON 2 CDS) + LIVE BONUS TRACKS
Personnel:
Junior Mance
(p), Ben Tucker, Jimmy Rowser, Larry Gales (b), Bobby Thomas, Paul Gusman, Ben
Riley (d)
Reference: FSRCD 684_2
Chicago-born
pianist Junior Mance first came to prominence with Gene Ammons and Lester Young
in the late Forties and consolidated his place at the top table touring and
recording with Dinah Washington, the Cannonball Adderley Quintet and the Dizzy
Gillespie Quintet in the Fifties.
By the time
he formed his own trio in 1961 he had evolved into one of the most compelling,
joy-generating performers of the groove-funk-soul-plus-neo-bop school, amply
signalled on "The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance."
Later, on
"Big Chief!," he proved this to be only a partially valid designation,
projecting a variety of moods and spicing his work with distinctive chord
voicings and a much lighter touch than that of most of soul-pianists,
especially in his sensitive exploration of Sara Casseys exquisite
impressionistic composition, The Seasons.
The second
CD on this set contains mostly live performances, including his trio album,
"At the Village Vanguard," and five tracks from broadcasts recorded
during the trios frequent 1961 engagements at Birdland.
Throughout
his work in this collection Junior Mance stands as a particularly pleasurable
example of a generation of bop pianists, one wholike Bobby Timmons, Ray Bryant
and the great Wynton Kellycombined the innovations of bop with a firm grounding
in the timeless verities of the blues.
Tracklisting:
CD 1
01. The
Uptown (Mance) 4:02
02. Ralphs
New Blues (Jackson) 4:22
03. Main
Stem (Ellington) 4:21
04. Darling,
Je Vous Aime Beaucoup (Sosenko) 3:34
05.
Playhouse (Mance) 4:13
06. Sweet
and Lovely (Lemare-Arnheim-Tobias) 3:36
07. In the
Land of Oo-Bla-Dee (Williams-Orent) 4:36
08. I Dont
Care (Bryant) 4:27
09.
Swingmatism (McShann-Scott) 5:13
10. Big
Chief! (Mance) 4:15
11. Love for
Sale (Porter) 4:56
12. The
Seasons (Cassey) 3:30
13. Fillet
of Soul (Gales) 4:28
14. Swish
(Mance) 3:41
15. Summertime
(G.& I. Gershwin) 4:12
16. Ruby, My
Dear (Monk) 5:59
17. Little
Miss Gail (Mance) 4:48
CD 2
01. Atlanta
Blues (Handy-Elman) 5:51
02. Looptown
(Mance) 5:04
03. Letter
from Home (Mance) 4:46
04. Girl of
My Dreams (Clapp) 3:58
05. 63rd
Street Theme (Griffin) 6:17
06. Smokey
Blues (Mance) 6:33
07. 9:20
Special (Warren-Palmer) 5:07
08. Bingo
Domingo (Davis) 4:39
09. You Are
Too Beautiful (Rodgers-Hart) 5:26
10. Woodyn
You (Gillespie) 5:40 (*) Bonus Track
11. The
Uptown (Mance) 6:19 (*) Bonus Track
12. Girl of
My Dreams (Clapp) 4:05 (*) Bonus Track
13.
Summertime (G.& I. Gershwin) 8:12 (*) Bonus Track
14. Ruby My
Dear (Monk) 5:49 (*) Bonus Track
Original sources:
CD 1, tracks
#1-9 from the jazzland album "The Soulful Piano of junior Mance" (JLP
930)
CD 1, tracks
#10-17 & CD 2, track #1 from the album "Big Chief" (Jazzland JLP
953)
CD 2, tracks
#2-9 from the Jazzland album "Junior Mance Trio At the Village
Vanguard" (JLP 941)
CD 2, tracks
#10-14 from the album "Junior Mance Trio" (Ozone LP 23)
Personnel on "The Soulful
Piano":
Junior Mance
(p), Ben Tucker (b), Bobby Thomas (d).
Recorded at
Plaza Sound Studios, New York City,
on October
25, 1960
Personnel on "Big Chief":
Junior Mance
(p), Jimmy Rowser (b), Paul Gusman (d).
Recorded at
Plaza Sound Studios, New York City,
on August 1,
1961
Personnel on "At The Village
Vanguard":
Junior Mance
(p), Larry Gales (b), Ben Riley (d).
Recorded
live at the Village Vanguard,
New York
City, February 22 & 23, 1961
The bonus tracks are broadcast
performances:
Junior Mance
(p), Jimmy Rowser (b), Paul Gusman (d).
Recorded
live at Birdland, New York City,
on June 25,
October 21 & November 25, 1961
Original recordings produced by Orrin Keepnews.
Broadcast
recordings taped by Boris Rose.
Original
Jazzland covers designed by Ken Deardoff.
Photos by
Donald Silverstein.
This CD
release produced by Jordi Pujol.
Stereo /
Mono · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered