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Pete Jolly


thomastreichler

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On the 1957 EmArcy album "Terry Gibbs plays the Duke" Pete Jolly can be heard to good advantage on accordion; the accordion blends well with the vibraphone and Pete Jolly has some hot solos. Gibbs and Jolly are backed by Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Gary Frommer on drums. This session has recently been reissued by Fresh Sound, combining it with "Swingin' with Terry Gibbs' Orchestra" (recorded in 1956 and originally released on EmArcy).

Now my question: Are there any more recordings to be recommended featuring Pete Jolly on accordion?

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There's some Jolly accordion on the Fresh Sound compilation "Pete Jolly -- Quartet, Quintet, and Sextet." I recall his accordion work as being pleasant and swinging, but based on admittedly limited experience (for one, I've never heard Tommy Gumina) my favorite jazz accordionist is Holland's Mat Matthews, who made at least two albums for Dawn in the 1950s. The one with Art Farmer, Gigi Gryce, Oscar Pettiford, Kenny Clarke et al. is really nice and includes a heroic Pettiford cello solo on his own piece "Now See How You Are."

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Pppffft they had accordian in wcj way befrore any asso. w/ EmErcy, eg. TAMPA (legendary wcj label) had lps w/ bob endvoledsen on acc. (doubling on tb.)

my question= WHY/??? WHATS UP W/ THE ACC. IN WCJ. DID KENTON DO IT ONCE OR SOMETHING AND THEN EVERYONE COPIED IT? OR WHATS UP WITH THE ACCORDIAN IN THE HISTORY OF WEST COAST JAZZ!!!!!!!

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Pppffft they had accordian in wcj way befrore any asso. w/ EmErcy, eg. TAMPA (legendary wcj label) had lps w/ bob endvoledsen on acc. (doubling on tb.)

my question= WHY/??? WHATS UP W/ THE ACC. IN WCJ. DID KENTON DO IT ONCE OR SOMETHING AND THEN EVERYONE COPIED IT? OR WHATS UP WITH THE ACCORDIAN IN THE HISTORY OF WEST COAST JAZZ!!!!!!!

Jolly said that his inspiration was singer-accordion player Joe Mooney, who was a popular figure in the 1940s. Gunther Schuller raves about Mooney's subtle, in some ways musically quite advanced combo (clarinet, accordion, bass and drums) in "The Swing Era," and there are (or were) two collections on the Hep label of Mooney's '40s work. Mooney's music certainly has its charm, but for me a little goes a long way -- it's a bit on the cocktail-lounge hip side.

Also, Enevoldsen doubled on a lot of instruments, tenor sax and bass as well as valve trombone and accordian (though the last I've never heard from him). I wouldn't be surprised if he made a few sides on musical saw.

Edited by Larry Kart
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Always loved the accordion playing of Pete Jolly on the Buddy Collette and the Poll Winnners hard to get album 'Interpretations of Porgy & Bess' that came out on Interlude.

The session was reissued on the Lonehill CD 'Jim Hall The Unreleased Sessions'.

51F76QVVB4L._AA240_.jpg

The cover of that Collette Interlude LP ( some copies with yellow/gold vinyl ) :

BuddyColletteonInterlude.jpg

The Collete LP was repackaged for a 1962 reissue on the Charlie Parker label :

PeteJollyGassesEverybodyonCharliePa.jpg

The only picture I could find of Jolly and his ( no doubt Italian ) squeezebox :

HowardRobertsandPeteJollyca1949.jpg

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On the subject of Jolly, what's the word on this one:

jolly_pete~_seasons~~_101b.jpg

Quoth the Ba***rd(s):

One of our favorite-ever keyboard albums -- a rare lost session from pianist Pete Jolly -- one of his only electric dates, and a completely improvised set of grooves! Pete plays electric piano, organ, and even a bit of musette -- jamming in the studio with help from Chuck Berhofer on bass, Paul Humphrey on drums, John Pisano on guitar, and Milt Holland and Emil Richards on percussion -- all of whom bring in some sly, subtle touches to the grooves that are totally great! The album's much more open than other keyboard dates from the time -- almost in the territory of some of Herbie Hancock's most experimental work, but a fair bit more groove-based too -- given that the album's filled with short, funky tracks all the way through. There's some echoes of Bob James work to come -- and given the 1970 date of the record, it could almost be said that Jolly predates a whole host of 70s keyboard talents -- setting his mark with this uniquely laidback set of tracks. Titles include the classic "Plummer Park", plus "Rainbow", "Seasons", "Indian's Summer", "Pete Jolly", "Leaves", "Springs", "Bees", and "Sand Storm".

Lots of conflicting/mixed messages there....

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On the subject of Jolly, what's the word on this one:

jolly_pete~_seasons~~_101b.jpg

Quoth the Ba***rd(s):

One of our favorite-ever keyboard albums -- a rare lost session from pianist Pete Jolly -- one of his only electric dates, and a completely improvised set of grooves! Pete plays electric piano, organ, and even a bit of musette -- jamming in the studio with help from Chuck Berhofer on bass, Paul Humphrey on drums, John Pisano on guitar, and Milt Holland and Emil Richards on percussion -- all of whom bring in some sly, subtle touches to the grooves that are totally great! The album's much more open than other keyboard dates from the time -- almost in the territory of some of Herbie Hancock's most experimental work, but a fair bit more groove-based too -- given that the album's filled with short, funky tracks all the way through. There's some echoes of Bob James work to come -- and given the 1970 date of the record, it could almost be said that Jolly predates a whole host of 70s keyboard talents -- setting his mark with this uniquely laidback set of tracks. Titles include the classic "Plummer Park", plus "Rainbow", "Seasons", "Indian's Summer", "Pete Jolly", "Leaves", "Springs", "Bees", and "Sand Storm".

Lots of conflicting/mixed messages there....

Holy Cow That's out on cd now! :excited: :excited: :excited: I've been looking for years for a copy of Seasons because of this AMG review:

Review by Richard S. Ginell and Thom Jurek

This LP, hailed at the time of release and promptly forgotten, is Pete Jolly's masterpiece, a wonderfully emotional electronic tour de force. With the exception of one cut, it was completely improvised in a single four-hour session in the studio by Jolly and a superb, versatile rhythm section: drummer Paul Humphrey, guitarist John Pisano, and the ever-present Chuck Berghofer on bass (with Milt Holland and Emil Richards contributing as well). Jolly plays not only acoustic piano, but Wurlitzer electronic piano, accordion, musette, Sano Vox and the Hammond B-3. Minimal overdubbing was done later. "Seasons" unleashes Jolly's imagination, and he creates a marvelous tapestry of sound that both moves the listener and swings spontaneously. Beautifully produced by Herb Alpert -- who brought him to A&M -- the record is structured as a continuous suite -- with only the side break on the LP interrupting the flow -- and it comes to an exciting, carefully graded climax on "The Indian's Summer," with Jolly pounding the grand piano and a sudden burst of big band fireworks courtesy of Bill Holman. It doesn't end there however, as the closing cut, a near nostalgic weeper cum slippery little funk number called "Pete's Jolly" attests, sending it out on a fingerpopping note. There is arch humor in tracks like the scurrying "Bees" and the sauntering "Plummer Park" (which has been sampled plentifully by the hip-hop generation and contains the tight popping jazz funk that defined the CTI label, as does the last tune on the LP side, "Springs"), the vivid tone painting in "Rainbows" and "Sand Storm," and the aching beauty in "Autumn Festival." Roger Nichols' wistful "Seasons" and the sole standard on the album, "Younger Than Springtime," fit seamlessly into the fabric of Jolly's improvisations, and he uses "Springtime" as a recurring motif. Nothing from his earlier recordings could prepare the listener for this record, and he did nothing comparable until his death in 2004. [in July of 2007, Chicago'sDusty Groove imprint reissued the disc on CD. The transfer is fine indeed with warm, immediate, full-range sound.]

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