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Pete Jolly

Pete Jolly lived a double life as studio ace by day and jazz cat by night for over 40 years. A member of the musicians union since his teens, he settled in Los Angeles in his early 20s and became a member of Shorty Rogers' Giants, one of the leading West Coast jazz groups. He also began working as a studio musician in the mid-1950s and decided to divide his energy between the security of studio work and the artistic satisfaction of playing jazz in local clubs in Los Angeles. Jolly's father, also named Peter, was a superb accordion player, and he started the boy on the instrument not long after weaning. By the time Jolly was seven, his father was taking him by train to New York City once a week to take lessons from the great Joe Biviano, and when he was eight, he made his first broadcast appearance, billed as "The Boy Wonder Accordionist" on CBS Radio's "Hobby Lobby." The show's emcee messed up his name, announcing him as "Pete Jolly," but the boy liked the sound of it and used it ever after. Jolly moved with his family to Phoenix, Arizona, where he became friends with another future studio ace, guitarist Howard Roberts. While still in high school, Jolly managed to get a regular job leading the house trio at a local club, the Jazz Mill, where he played behind such touring jazz starts as Chet Baker and Benny Carter. After graduating, he kept working at the Jazz Mill, but after a few years, Roberts, who'd moved to Los Angeles, convinced Jolly to move west. In 1954, he arrived, and within days, was hired to play with one of the hottest stars of West Coast Jazz, Shorty Rogers. In a town with no shortage of good piano players, Jolly's exceptional technical skills, rock-solid rhythm, and somewhat self-effacing style made him a hot commodity among jazz stars looking to round out a combo. Over the next ten years, he recorded with most of the best talents passing through L.A.: Gerry Mulligan, Mel Torme, Red Norvo, Buddy De Franco, Terry Gibbs, Art Pepper, Anita O'Day, and Marty Paich. He also began his own long recording career, with a 1955 album, Jolly Jumps In for RCA. Over the next forty-five years, Jolly would record over twenty albums, but rarely more than twice with the same label. The highlight of his career came in 1963, when his bossa-nova flavored composition, "Little Bird," recorded for Ava Records, earned him a Grammy nomination.

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11
Album Review

Art Pepper: Smack Up

Read "Smack Up" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


There are certain players and recordings that make an indelible first impression. The circumstances usually involve a degree of ignorance: Who is that? What is he (or she) doing? How did this recording escape notice when so many others did not? A very personal reaction to Art Pepper. Urgency. Intensity. Listen to me. Before the name, there was the sound and the piercing tone that can only come out of some dark emotional depth. A listener did not ...

335
Album Review

Art Pepper: Smack Up

Read "Smack Up" reviewed by David Rickert


Art Pepper's reckless lifestyle tended to overshadow his superb musicianship, and the circumstances surrounding Smack Up are certainly no exception. Shortly after recording it in 1960, he spent three years in jail for heroin possession, and one can only wonder if the title of the record is a play on words. Nevertheless, Pepper is in good form, as he usually was despite his troubles, darting over the changes and stitching together sharp, boppish lines without hesitation. Featuring a crack rhythm ...

345
Album Review

Art Pepper: Smack Up

Read "Smack Up" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Art Pepper produced the greatest recordings of the so-called “first phase" of his career during periods of intense chaos. A case in point is Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, where the altoist--rusty from inactivity, angry because of the surprise recording session set up by his then-wife Diane, and very, very strung out--expelled an acknowledged masterpiece. The aptly named Smack Up was the penultimate recording to the better part of a decade of incarceration for the musician's well-known heroin addiction. ...

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1

Recording

Jack Montrose and Pete Jolly

Jack Montrose and Pete Jolly

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Between 1985 and 1990, tenor saxophonist Jack Montrose recorded three sterling albums in Hollywood with pianist and friend Pete Jolly. What the three albums had in common was the music of David Holt. They also featured the same quartet: Jack Montrose (ts), Pete Jolly (p), Chuck Berghofer (b) and Nick Martinis (d). All three albums—Better Late Than Never (1985), Spread a Little Joy (1987) and Let's Do It (1990) appeared on obscure labels and two of the three don't seem ...

2

Recording

Jerry Donato and Pete Jolly

Jerry Donato and Pete Jolly

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

At the end of April, my dear friend and arranger Bob Freedman sent along the following email about the late pianist Pete Jolly: “A few years ago, I wrote a few arrangements for a CD being recorded by Jerry Donato, a wonderful Phoenix-area reed player. Among the other local players was a pianist named Pete Jolly. Pete was very ill the entire time he was here, but he played typically beautifully throughout the three days of recording, and his spirits ...

Recording

Pete Jolly and A&M

Pete Jolly and A&M

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Between 1968 and 1970, West Coast pianist Pete Jolly recorded three albums for Herb Alpert's A&M label. Each had a different sound, tapping into Jolly's smooth mood feel, his aggressive jazz keyboard style and his inventiveness on electronic instruments. All three were produced by Herb in Los Angeles. In late 1967, Herb's success with the Tijuana Brass occupied much of his time, both in the studio and on tours. Psychedelic rock was the rage, but to A&M's credit, the label ...

1

Recording

Pete Jolly: Accordion, 1955

Pete Jolly: Accordion, 1955

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Four well-known jazz pianists of the 1950s started out as accordionists. The trend owed much to the accordion's affordability by families that couldn't afford a piano and the instrument's appeal at weddings and other parties, allowing budding squeeze-boxers to earn a few bucks. The list includes George Shearing, Joe Mooney and Marty Paich. The fourth may come as a surprise—Pete Jolly. [Pictured, from left, guitarist Howard Roberts and Pete Jolly] Born in New Haven, Conn. in 1932, Jolly (née Peter ...

Recording

Pete Jolly: Early Piano

Pete Jolly: Early Piano

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Much has been written about Lester Young's influence on West Coast jazz saxophonists. Much less has been written about Bud Powell's impact on West Coast jazz pianists. In the early 1950s, many California pianists from Claude Williamson and Carl Perkins to Hampton Hawes and Russ Freeman were enthralled by Powell's bop attack and ability to storm through a song with on-the-fly dexterity and improvisational excitement. These pianists didn't copy Powell's style but merely used his approach as their basis. From ...

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Obituary

Pete Jolly, 72, Keyboardist in Jazz and TV, Is Dead

Pete Jolly, 72, Keyboardist in Jazz and TV, Is Dead

Source: All About Jazz

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Pete Jolly, a keyboardist who was a regular on the Southern California jazz scene for 40 years and whose playing was heard on some of television's most popular theme songs, died on Saturday in Pasadena. He was 72.

The cause was complications of bone marrow cancer and irregular heartbeat, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Mr. Jolly, whose composition “Little Bird" was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1963, formed the Pete Jolly Trio in 1964 with ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Smack Up

Craft Recordings
2024

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Timeless

VSOP Records
1997

buy

Serenata

Concord Music Group
1970

buy

Seasons

Concord Music Group
1970

buy

Give A Damn

Concord Music Group
1969

buy

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