Pianist Junior Mance was born in Chicago in 1928. He studied at Roosevelt College and gained early experience with Gene Ammons and Lester Young. During his military service, Junior played with the Adderley brothers, later joining their quintet in 1956. He has recorded and toured with Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington and Joe Williams and currently leads his own trio. The strong Blues influence in his playing makes him immediately recognizable and he has composed a number of classic jazz tunes, including "Harlem Lullaby." Junior continues to record frequently, often for the Chiarascoro record label. He is on the faculty of the New School in New York City.
When I first became aware of jazz I often listened to an all night Rochester jazz station, under the sheets with my transistor radio. One late night I heard a recording called "Harlem Lullaby" and I remember it spoke to me of times and places that I knew nothing about but would like to. Years later I was able to meet with Junior Mance, the composer, who told me how he would stay up late in his room listening to an all night Chicago jazz station (I'm not making this up). When I was trying to decide on a couple of non-original tunes this was an obvious choice although it did take some lobbying from my wife, Romy, who convinced me that we could do it justice. It is worth searching for the original Junior Mance LP, "Harlem Lullaby" on Atlantic Records, circa 1967.