Pete Jolly - R.I.P.
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Steven J. Gross
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YES!!!Mr Bill said:
Mike
Active Member
Peter,
Thank you for posting your kind words here. Your Father’s music is such a joy to listen to. I regret that I never had the opportunity to see him perform live. When I listen to his recordings, I always try to imagine what he looked like while playing; it sounds like his hands are magically flying around the keys playing the notes as only he could interpret and play them. As an artist, he was a genius.
My sincere regards,
Mike
Thank you for posting your kind words here. Your Father’s music is such a joy to listen to. I regret that I never had the opportunity to see him perform live. When I listen to his recordings, I always try to imagine what he looked like while playing; it sounds like his hands are magically flying around the keys playing the notes as only he could interpret and play them. As an artist, he was a genius.
My sincere regards,
Mike
Wallingford native Pete Jolly worked with Sinatra, other stars
By Dan Champagne, Meriden (CT) Record-Journal
WALLINGFORD — Pete Jolly may have had a hand in the re-recording of Frank Sinatra's version of "New York, New York", but his roots trace back to Wallingford.
Jolly, a town native, played piano on Sinatra's ode to the Big Apple on the song's re-recording for Sinatra's "Trilogy: Past, Present and Future" album released in 1979. The re-recorded version of the song is the one played after games at Yankee Stadium.
Jolly died Nov. 6 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, Calif., of bone marrow cancer and an irregular heartbeat at the age of 72.
Those who knew him said the music he left behind will keep his memory alive forever.
Born Peter A. Ceragioli in 1932 at New Haven's Hospital of St. Raphael, Jolly was introduced to music at a very young age by his father, Peter, an avid accordion player.
"His father was an accordion player too," said Lillian Pilla, 91, Jolly's aunt and godmother who still lives in Wallingford. "He always said that he was going to make his little boy into a music player."
He was right.
Jolly performed an accordion solo at Carnegie Hall when he was just 8 years old.
"He was never nervous in his life," said Pilla, who was at the performance. "I remember that he was missing two front teeth, but he played his heart out. He loved it when the crowd applauded for him."
His wife of 40 years, Lillian Ceragioli, agreed that Jolly was never nervous even when he performed at Sinatra's 50th birthday party.
"He was always very quiet," Lillian Ceragioli said during a telephone interview Thursday afternoon from her home in Pasadena. "If he was nervous, he didn't show it. Most of what was going on inside stayed inside with him."
Charles Bertagna, a lifelong friend of Jolly, met the jazz musician in 1941 at a concert in New Britain. Bertagna, now 75, was amazed at the 8-year-old Jolly's talent on the accordion.
"He was the boy wonder," said Bertagna, a former Meriden resident who now lives in Kensington. "He was just a little boy playing a big accordion at the time."
It was around that time that Pete Ceragioli got the name Pete Jolly. According to Bertagna, while being introduced on a radio show the announcer said Ceragioli looked like "a jolly little fellow."
While living in Wallingford, Jolly began switching from accordion to piano and played at The Log Cabin in North Haven, Lake Compounce and Lake Pocotopaug in East Hampton.
Jolly's family moved to Phoenix when he was 13 years old and he began playing at local clubs and backed up jazz legends Benny Carter, Chet Baker and Jack Teagarden.
He moved to Los Angeles, where he met jazz musician Shorty Rogers, when he turned 20. Jolly quickly became the pianist in the group Shorty Rogers and His Giants.
At 22 Jolly recorded his first album "Jolly Jumps In." The Pete Jolly Trio, comprised of bassists Chuck Berghofer and drummer Nick Martinis, worked together for nearly 40 years.
After releasing several more albums over the next eight years, Jolly received a Grammy nomination in 1963 for best jazz song for "Little Bird,", a song he cowrote. He was nominated for best jazz instrumental in a small group a year later for "Sweet September."
Friends and family said he took those nominations, like everything else in his life, with a great degree of modesty.
"This was a very modest guy," Bertagna said, adding that Jolly did not even listen to his own recordings. "He didn't have an understanding of how widely his music spread. The modesty was with him forever. He never talked down to anybody. If anything, he spoke up to everyone."
"He never bragged about himself," Pilla added. "He always said he was just an ordinary kid. He always said that there were a lot of people who could play better than him so why say anything? We bragged about him, though."
His wife agreed that Jolly enjoyed listening to other people's music more than his own.
"He liked classical, but jazz was always his favorite," she said.
Bertagna described Jolly as a versatile man, and that showed in his later work, when he recorded hundreds of soundtracks for television and movies. Some of his television credits include "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," "The Lucy Show" and "M*A*S*H." His movie credits include "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," along with several Clint Eastwood films such as "Bronco Billy" (1980), "City Heat" (1984) and "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986).
"I think he was most proud of his affiliation with Clint Eastwood," Bertagna said of the actor and director, who has long been a jazz fan. "Clint enjoyed his music so much that he asked Pete to play at his birthday party several times."
John Mastroianni, Connecticut chapter president of the International Association for Jazz Education and the jazz band director at Hall High School in West Hartford, said Jolly is, "a household name," when it comes to jazz in movie soundtracks.
"He's had a profound influence on that business," Mastroianni said. "His list of credits speaks for itself. He's been a staple in that business that will last forever."
But Lillian Ceragioli said music did not take Jolly away from his family.
"He loved music, but there was a family side to him as well," Ceragioli said. "He loved spending time with the kids and taking little trips. He enjoyed coin collecting a bit as well."
Jolly is survived by his three children Michael, 48, Peter Jr., 38, and Gregory, 37. He also had three grandchildren, Rebecca, 12, Kaitlin, 8, and Nicole, 2.
"I can't even express how much people say they are missing him in the letters I've received," Ceragioli said. "It's a big loss for the jazz community."
By Dan Champagne, Meriden (CT) Record-Journal
WALLINGFORD — Pete Jolly may have had a hand in the re-recording of Frank Sinatra's version of "New York, New York", but his roots trace back to Wallingford.
Jolly, a town native, played piano on Sinatra's ode to the Big Apple on the song's re-recording for Sinatra's "Trilogy: Past, Present and Future" album released in 1979. The re-recorded version of the song is the one played after games at Yankee Stadium.
Jolly died Nov. 6 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, Calif., of bone marrow cancer and an irregular heartbeat at the age of 72.
Those who knew him said the music he left behind will keep his memory alive forever.
Born Peter A. Ceragioli in 1932 at New Haven's Hospital of St. Raphael, Jolly was introduced to music at a very young age by his father, Peter, an avid accordion player.
"His father was an accordion player too," said Lillian Pilla, 91, Jolly's aunt and godmother who still lives in Wallingford. "He always said that he was going to make his little boy into a music player."
He was right.
Jolly performed an accordion solo at Carnegie Hall when he was just 8 years old.
"He was never nervous in his life," said Pilla, who was at the performance. "I remember that he was missing two front teeth, but he played his heart out. He loved it when the crowd applauded for him."
His wife of 40 years, Lillian Ceragioli, agreed that Jolly was never nervous even when he performed at Sinatra's 50th birthday party.
"He was always very quiet," Lillian Ceragioli said during a telephone interview Thursday afternoon from her home in Pasadena. "If he was nervous, he didn't show it. Most of what was going on inside stayed inside with him."
Charles Bertagna, a lifelong friend of Jolly, met the jazz musician in 1941 at a concert in New Britain. Bertagna, now 75, was amazed at the 8-year-old Jolly's talent on the accordion.
"He was the boy wonder," said Bertagna, a former Meriden resident who now lives in Kensington. "He was just a little boy playing a big accordion at the time."
It was around that time that Pete Ceragioli got the name Pete Jolly. According to Bertagna, while being introduced on a radio show the announcer said Ceragioli looked like "a jolly little fellow."
While living in Wallingford, Jolly began switching from accordion to piano and played at The Log Cabin in North Haven, Lake Compounce and Lake Pocotopaug in East Hampton.
Jolly's family moved to Phoenix when he was 13 years old and he began playing at local clubs and backed up jazz legends Benny Carter, Chet Baker and Jack Teagarden.
He moved to Los Angeles, where he met jazz musician Shorty Rogers, when he turned 20. Jolly quickly became the pianist in the group Shorty Rogers and His Giants.
At 22 Jolly recorded his first album "Jolly Jumps In." The Pete Jolly Trio, comprised of bassists Chuck Berghofer and drummer Nick Martinis, worked together for nearly 40 years.
After releasing several more albums over the next eight years, Jolly received a Grammy nomination in 1963 for best jazz song for "Little Bird,", a song he cowrote. He was nominated for best jazz instrumental in a small group a year later for "Sweet September."
Friends and family said he took those nominations, like everything else in his life, with a great degree of modesty.
"This was a very modest guy," Bertagna said, adding that Jolly did not even listen to his own recordings. "He didn't have an understanding of how widely his music spread. The modesty was with him forever. He never talked down to anybody. If anything, he spoke up to everyone."
"He never bragged about himself," Pilla added. "He always said he was just an ordinary kid. He always said that there were a lot of people who could play better than him so why say anything? We bragged about him, though."
His wife agreed that Jolly enjoyed listening to other people's music more than his own.
"He liked classical, but jazz was always his favorite," she said.
Bertagna described Jolly as a versatile man, and that showed in his later work, when he recorded hundreds of soundtracks for television and movies. Some of his television credits include "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," "The Lucy Show" and "M*A*S*H." His movie credits include "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," along with several Clint Eastwood films such as "Bronco Billy" (1980), "City Heat" (1984) and "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986).
"I think he was most proud of his affiliation with Clint Eastwood," Bertagna said of the actor and director, who has long been a jazz fan. "Clint enjoyed his music so much that he asked Pete to play at his birthday party several times."
John Mastroianni, Connecticut chapter president of the International Association for Jazz Education and the jazz band director at Hall High School in West Hartford, said Jolly is, "a household name," when it comes to jazz in movie soundtracks.
"He's had a profound influence on that business," Mastroianni said. "His list of credits speaks for itself. He's been a staple in that business that will last forever."
But Lillian Ceragioli said music did not take Jolly away from his family.
"He loved music, but there was a family side to him as well," Ceragioli said. "He loved spending time with the kids and taking little trips. He enjoyed coin collecting a bit as well."
Jolly is survived by his three children Michael, 48, Peter Jr., 38, and Gregory, 37. He also had three grandchildren, Rebecca, 12, Kaitlin, 8, and Nicole, 2.
"I can't even express how much people say they are missing him in the letters I've received," Ceragioli said. "It's a big loss for the jazz community."
Steven J. Gross
Well-Known Member
God Bless your family Peter.
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