Pete Jolly Trio and Friends (1962)

About this title: This CD contains selections taken from pianist Pete Jolly's three mid-'60s LPs for Ava. Although it would have been preferable to have all of the music complete, this is a fine all-round sampler. The talented bop-based pianist is joined by bassist Chuck Berghofer, guitarist Howard Roberts, either Larry Bunker or Nick Martinis on drums and, on seven of the 16 selections, a string orchestra. All but five of the performances are under 3 1/2 minutes and, although those are enjoyable enough, it is Jolly's longer explorations ("Falling in Love with Love," "Alone Together," "No Other Love," "Can't ... read more

Tracks:

1. Little Bird [Grove/Jolly/Wolf]
2. Falling in Love With Love [Hart/Rodgers]
3. Three-Four-Five [Jolly]
4. Alone Together [Dietz/Schwartz]
5. Sweet September [McGuffie/Philips/St]
6. The Moment of Truth [Satterwhite/Scott]
7. Blues Two Ways [Grove]
8. The Grass Is Greener [Smith]
9. The First of May [Grove]
10. A Sleepin' Bee [Capote/Arlen]
11. Here's That Rainy Day [Burke/VanHeusen]
12. No Other Love [Hammerstein/Rodgers]
13. Soft Winds [Goodman]
14. Can't We Be Friends? [James/Swift]
15. I'm Beginning to See the Light [Ellington/George/Ho]
16. Oleo [Rollins]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.