Customer Reviews

Jolly Jumps In

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This trio outing was Pete Jolly's first album under his own name and he certainly came to the studio eager and ready to play. Quite a few of these tunes are taken at incredibly quick tempos, and Jolly goes through them like a hot knife through butter. WILL YOU STILL BE MINE, I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN, I'M WITH YOU, and BEFORE AND AFTER all feature Jolly's swinging single-note approach, though his left hand is never just idle. One of the most interesting tracks is THAT'S ALL, which begins and ends in slow 4/4 but then switches to a medium waltz in the middle section with some dissonance thrown in for good measure: it packs a lot into a 3-minute recording. On three tunes a small band including Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, and Howard Roberts augments the trio, with Jolly switching to accordion, an instrument he was just about the sole master on in the modern idiom. Rogers takes a nice solo on WHY DO I LOVE YOU. Pete Jolly is an exciting pianist and this initial album showcases his talents nicely. Well worth checking out.

People will never confuse this album with Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage", or Miles Davis' "Portaits of Spain", but this little gem is something for the jazz afficianado who likes something off the beaten track.

I grew up listening to this album. I managed to dig up the old LP(from 1955). Lo, to my surprise, it is now available on compact disc. God is a jazz man after all...