Coltrane, Monk, Bird and Pres - group of four autographed album leaves from the collection of Junior Mance.

From the collection of Jazz Hall-of-Famer Junior Mance from his time as house pianist at the Bee Hive in Chicago. None of the leaves are personalized, apart from that of Coltrane who has inscribed, "Best to Junior, John Coltrane." The Coltrane leaf is mounted with a studio printed photograph by Francis Wolff, a portrait of 'Trane taken in 1956 at bassist Paul Chambers's Blue Note recording sessions for Whims Of Chambers; Pres with an image by the Dutch jazz photographer Gerrit Schilp; Monk, the leaf inscribed "Good luck always" with an original photograph of Monk by Duncan Schiedt; and Bird mounted with a high quality reproduction of the famous James Kriegsmann studio portrait of the young Bird. Junior Mance began playing the piano at the age of five, not receiving formal training until the age of eight, and starting to play professionally during his early teens. He attended Roosevelt College in Chicago as a music major. In 1947 Mance left Roosevelt College to join Gene Ammons' band and began his recording career with Gene. He joined Lester Young in 1949 for almost two years, and rejoined Ammons several months in 1951 before being drafted into the U. S. Army, serving in the 36th Army Band at Fort Knox, Kentucky along with Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. After his discharge from the Army in 1953, he became part of the house rhythm section at the Bee Hive Jazz Club in Chicago for a year, accompanying musicians such as Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Sonny Stitt. In 1954 Mance joined and toured with Dinah Washington, later working with Dizzy Gillespie, before forming his own trio. Junior Mance was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997, he continues to work in NYC and Japan. A really lovely group of important, and uncommon, signatures, with a most excellent provenance. Four individual autograph album leaves from an album kept by pianist Junior Mance, each archivally mounted, framed, and glazed, together with a photographic portrait of subject, accompanied by a similarly presented image of Mance himself with signature. Very good condition.…