After intially declining a faculty position, Arnie Lawrence and Chico Hamilton convinced Mr. Mance to "just try" teaching young musicians. "I liked it the first day and, by the end of the semester, I loved it. I am here because I like teaching the kids--no more than that." To former students such as Brad Mehldau (see Jazz Alumni Spotlight), Larry Goldings, and Jesse Davis, the Jazz Program is thankful for this reconsideration. Always astounded by the high quality of education provided by the program, Mr. Mance commented, "I was almost expelled once for practicing jazz in a practice room at school. You played jazz on your own time, away from school. We depended on the jam session which is a dying art. The jazz clubs on the southside of Chicago would invite the young musicians to sit in. That's how I learned to play."

Listening to his father's Earl Hines and Art Tatum recordings, and his mother's Blues albums, Mr. Mance began playing the piano at the age of five. Leaving his music studies at Roosevelt University, Mr. Mance performed with the Gene Ammons Band, Dinah Washington, and Cannonball Adderly. From 1958 to 1961, Mr. Mance worked with Dizzy Gillespie. "With Dizzy, I think I learned everything I missed from leaving college by listening to him every night--by osmosis." Playing frequently with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis/Johnny Griffin quintet, he moved on to form his own trio in 1961. Recording with Dinah Washington, Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Clark Terry, and Maynard Ferguson, Mr. Mance has twenty-five solo albums on various labels, including Atlantic, Capital, and Verve.

Performing throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, Mr. Mance maintains a heavy performance schedule along with teaching a class on the Blues and jazz piano. "I always said if jazz stops being fun for me, I would stop playing. But, music is still fun to me. I am still learning things from these new young musicians. Jazz changes all the time and there is always something new coming along. "