Pete Jolly & Nick Ceroli - "Timeless"

[Mike]

The Pete Jolly Trio – “Timeless”, Recorded July 1969 at Donte’s in LA (V.S.O.P. #105 CD).

I ordered and received all the Pete Jolly CD’s on the V.S.O.P. label, and to my surprise “Timeless” featured Nick Ceroli (of TJB fame) on drums. In fact the album is dedicated to the memory of Nick Ceroli and George Jerman (who was the Session Engineer). Also, one of the album producers is Bob Edmondson; is he also of TJB fame or is it just a coincidence that someone else has the same name? I dunno!

As for the music – it’s terrific. There are a lot of little bass solos throughout the different tracks and even a great drum solo by Nick on the first track. The fifth song on the CD is John Philip Sousa’s “Stars And Stripes Forever”. When I saw that I thought, “Ugh, how bad is that going to be”. Well… some how Pete Jolly turns it into the swingingest (is that a real word?) little jazz number I’ve ever heard. Pete even turns Lennon/McCartney’s “Hey Jude” into a sweet little (actually 9:13 minute) jazz tune. My favorite track is the 12:35 version of “That Old Devil Moon”.

I normally take a little time to warm up to a piano jazz CD, but “Timeless” impressed me right from the first listen. Now if I could just get my hands on a cheap/mint condition vinyl LP of “Herb Alpert Presents Pete Jolly” I’d be all set.

 

[bob knack]

I recently discovered that Nick Ceroli's tombstone reads, "The music comes first".

By the way, there is a swinging big band arrangement of "The Stars and Stripes Forever". The recording I have of it is by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orch.

 

[alpertfan]

If you read the Pete Jolly page on this website, Nick Ceroli is listed as part of The Pete Jolly Trio for a little while, at the same time he was part of the TJB. Apparently, every A&M artist played on a fellow A&Mer's record.

...And I wonder, just why does his tombstone read, "The Music Comes First"? Was that what he thought about his career?: "Give 100% all the time".