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All Music Guide:
A powerful pianist who came to fame on the West Coast in the 1950s, Pete Jolly has been a fixture in Los Angeles for over 40 years. He started on accordion when he was three and began piano when he was eight. He played his first job when he was 12. In 1946, his family moved to Phoenix and the following year, he joined the Musicians Union and started working extensively in clubs. During a visit to Los Angeles in 1954, Jolly sat in at the Lighthouse, which led to him joining Shorty Rogers' Giants (1954-1956). He recorded three albums as a leader for Victor in 1956 (taking rare jazz accordion solos on a few tracks), worked with Buddy DeFranco, Terry Gibbs, Richie Kamuca, Chet Baker, and Art Pepper, among, others in the late '50s and had a surprise hit with "Little Bird" in 1963. Jolly became a busy studio musician in the 1960s, but has led his trio with bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Nick Martinis regularly in local clubs for over 30 years. In addition to RCA, Pete Jolly has recorded for Metrojazz, MGM, Ava, Charlie Parker Records, Columbia, A&M, Atlas, Holt, and V.S.O.P. as a leader.
Wikipedia:
Pete Jolly (born Peter Ceragioli Jr., June 5, 1932, New Haven, Connecticut, died November 6, 2004, Pasadena, California) was an American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist.
He was well known for his performance of television themes and various movie soundtracks. He began playing the accordion at age three, and appeared on the radio program Hobby Lobby at the age of seven.
His composition "Little Bird" (a minor hit on Fred Astaire's Ava label) was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1963, and he formed the Pete Jolly Trio in 1964. With the Trio and as a solo artist, he recorded several albums, the last of which was a 2000 collaboration with Jan Lundgren. He also worked with other notable jazz artists, including Buddy DeFranco, Art Pepper and Red Norvo, and for many years with EZ music arranger and director Ray Conniff.
Jolly's music can be heard on television programs such as Get Smart, The Love Boat, I Spy, Mannix, M*A*S*H and Dallas, as well as hundreds of movie soundtracks.
Jolly continued to perform with his trio in Los Angeles jazz clubs until shortly before being hopitalized in August 2004.
He died in Pasadena, California, from complications of multiple myeloma in 2004, aged 72.
