Pete Jolly - Too Much, Baby (2015) [Hi-Res]

The heyday of pianist Pete Jolly's jazz career was during the 1950s and early 1960s, when he made the bulk of his recordings as a leader. He had previously focused mainly on studio work in Hollywood for television and films, although he performed regularly in a jazz setting up until his death in 2004. This circa-1965 studio date, Too Much, Baby, is a trio session with bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Nick Martinis, concentrating on then-current pop songs and Broadway fare. Unfortunately, there is little room for the group to stretch out, as the songs all run under four minutes and are, for the most part, promptly faded out not long after Jolly completes his solos. His lively interpretation of "Sometime Ago," which includes a solo feature for Berghofer, is easily the album's highlight, though standards such as "One Morning in May" and his take of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" are also enjoyable. But even long-since forgotten material like "Same Ol' Huckleberry Finn (Up Cherry Street)," made popular by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (with whom Jolly worked briefly as a sideman) and written by Julius Wechter of the Baja Marimba Band, becomes an unlikely jazz vehicle in Jolly's hands, adding some humorous ragtime into the mix. ~ Ken Dryden