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Junior Mance


Hardbopjazz

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Here comes the turd in the punch bowl.

I always saw him as a "decent, educated player" but never really felt him as a "natural" player. His blues (a claim to fame for some fans) seems "studied" in a way similar to Oscar Peterson.

He is a wonderful guy personally, but that's what I think about his music.

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I have this one as a leader: Here 'Tis

96712230502-l.jpg

Very nice session. He made a few for Sackville.

HERE 'TIS

JUNIOR MANCE

1. Here 'Tis (8:02)

2. Woody 'N You (6:16)

3. Ow (9:51)

4. Con Alma (4:51)

5. Tour de Force (5:48)

6. Tin Tin Deo (9:44)

7. I Waited for You (7:03)

8. Blue 'N' Boogie (6:15)

9. A Night in Tunisia (3:33)

Musicians

* Bill McBirnie - Flute

* Junior Mance - Piano

* Kieran Overs - Bass

* Norman Marshall Villeneuve - Drums

* Reg Schwager - Guitar

I'm a Junior Mance fan. Check out that instrumentation again: On a tribute to Dizzy, no horns or reeds! Very well done. What shines through on a Mance recording are composure and intelligence. Very enjoyable musician.

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My take on Junior Mance is that he is a solid journeyman jazz piano player, but not one of my true favorites. Where I differ from Chuck is that I see him at his best as a blues player. His blues sound very "natural" to me. In fact Junior does his best to bring the blues or a blues feeling into most of what he plays. I attended one of his recording sessions for the Sackville label, and the blues feeling permeated the entire afternoon.

On non-blues jazz tunes and standards, Junior's solos don't raise to the level I hear in many other piano players.

He is definitely a very nice guy.

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Here comes the turd in the punch bowl.

I always saw him as a "decent, educated player" but never really felt him as a "natural" player. His blues (a claim to fame for some fans) seems "studied" in a way similar to Oscar Peterson.

He is a wonderful guy personally, but that's what I think about his music.

Interesting.

I have always enjoyed Mance's accompaniments quite a bit. He swings hard, has impeccable articulation, and doesn't get into anybody's way (The latter is primarily what sets him apart from Peterson in my mind). I thought that he did a great job, in particular, with Griff and Lockjaw.

Mance is very bluesy. On the other hand, I have never thought of him as a particularly great blues player in the sense of being highly inventive with the blues. One blues performance that sticks out in my mind is his reworking of "Blue Monk" on the "Junior's Blues" album. Very nice.

Edited by John L
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There's a sense in which I feel that it's unnecessary for a great blues player to be inventive. How inventive would you say Mance is, compared to, say, Muddy Waters or B B King?

MG

I think that Muddy Waters and BB King are highly inventive in the blues. They created styles and approaches in the blues that are now associated with their names and copied by 1000s of others. In the blues, I think of Junior Mance more as a practitioner, and a very fine one. In general, I have no trouble with the idea of Junior Mance being "great."

Edited by John L
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  • 6 years later...

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