Pete Jolly’s Jazz Trio Finds Comfort Breeds Longevity

Pete Jolly’s trio is truly special.

Not only does it sound great, the pianist, bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Nick Martinis have been playing together off-and-on for close to 30 years, making it one of the longest standing groups in jazz.

That sort of longevity is rare in any of the arts, and certainly in jazz. One thinks of the Modern Jazz Quartet, which has been in existence since 1952, except for a few years during the ‘80s. But even that vaunted band has had personnel changes.

So what accounts for the durability of Jolly, Berghofer and Martinis? “It’s so comfortable,” said Jolly in a conversation from his home in Pasadena. “We can just sit down and play because we know what we’re going to do, having played together all these years. There’s a feeling we have for each other. Like Nick, he knows exactly what I want to do.”

Martinis concurs. “I sort of follow Pete, read his mind, trying to anticipate what he’s going to do to make it sound together,” said the drummer. “But the way Pete plays is so easy. His swing, his feeling, settles everything right away, from bar one. It’s hard to go wrong.”

And this happens with a band that never rehearses, Martinis said. “Not even before a record date. We just go in and play,” he said.

“It seems rehearsed, even with new material,” said Jolly, who celebrates his 61st birthday with a performance Saturday at the Jazz Bakery. “It’s sort of like a pitcher and a catcher. You get to know each other’s signs.”

Jolly described Berghofer--who along with Martinis appears on “Gems,” the trio’s latest release on the Holt label--as a “strong bass player. I love his choice of notes and his sense of time,” he said.

The fact that the musicians have compatible personalities has also played a major role in the trio’s perpetuity, Martinis thinks.

“We’re all kind of laid-back,” he said. “Pete and I haven’t spoken a harsh word to each other in 35 years. We have a good time.”

Occasionally, Jolly will be forced to substitute for one of his partners. That will be the case at the Jazz Bakery, where Bob Maize will sit in for Berghofer, who is touring with Frank Sinatra. But the change won’t be drastic: Maize has played with Jolly and Martinis on numerous occasions, and his solid walking lines and fluent solo style are reminiscent of Berghofer.

“Bob’s great,” said Martinis. “He knows all the tunes, all the chord changes, and he follows well, all the things that Pete likes.”

A Bud Powell-influenced be-bop based pianist, Jolly plays with a comely lyricism and a fluid technique--his lines can resemble strands of pearls, the notes even, round, glistening. During a recent performance at Maxwell’s by the Sea in Huntington Beach, Jolly mixed things up, playing some fast-hit chords that splashed like stones breaking the still surface of a lake, then switching to soft, murmured passages, like secrets whispered in the corner of a dark cafe.

Born in Connecticut, the pianist formed his first trio in Phoenix, Ariz., where he moved with his parents. There Jolly was house pianist at the Jazz Mill, and his trio backed such jazz notables as guitarist Barney Kessel and saxophonist Benny Carter.

Jolly came to California in 1954, playing a weeklong engagement with Kessel and saxophonist Georgie Auld, then joining trumpeter Shorty Rogers’ Giants. In 1955, the pianist recorded his first trio album, “Jolly Jumps In,” on RCA Records.

Through the years Jolly has worked with numerous horn-playing leaders--among them saxophonist Art Pepper and trumpeter Chet Baker. Still, he has long preferred the hornless setting of the piano-bass-drums trio.

“Horns can limit you, whereas a trio is more mobile, more transparent, there’s a more open feeling,” he said. “Piano, bass and drums--that’s really my love.”

Jolly started working with Berghofer in the late ‘50s, playing duos at a club called Sherry’s, which was just off the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. He had been a fan of Martinis, whom he had first heard with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, and when he was offered a trio job at the Red Chimney, a club in the Silver Lake district, in 1964, he called the bassist and drummer.

“That first job lasted about a year, then we were one of the first bands to play Donte’s,” Jolly said, referring to the now-defunct North Hollywood jazz room. Later the threesome played at Alfonse’s, which also was in North Hollywood, and was heard two weekends a month at the Glendale Grill, which recently closed.

These days, things are slower. “There aren’t enough places to play,” Jolly said matter-of-factly.

Like so many Southern California jazz musicians, Jolly has done his share of TV and film studio work. In the ‘70s through the mid-’80s, he was so busy doing such shows as “Get Smart,” “I Spy” and “The Mod Squad” that he had little chance to work with his trio. “I had to get up at 8 in the morning for studio calls, and that’s hard to do when you’ve been playing in a club until 1 or 2 in the morning,” Jolly said.

But with the advent of synthesizers about a decade ago, Jolly’s studio load went down, and he returned to regular club work. “I just want to stay with the acoustic instrument,” he said. “I’m really enjoying just playing some jazz now.”

Music’s been good to Pete Jolly. “I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of the things that I wanted to do, like play with Chuck and Nick,” he said. “You go out and play what you want and people enjoy it. It’s been a nice life for me.”*

The Pete Jolly trio plays 8 p.m. Saturday at the Jazz Bakery, 3221 Hutchison Ave., Culver City. $15, refreshments included. (310) 271-9039.