A Threesome for 3 Decades

How’s this for longevity: When pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Nick Martinis perform Friday at Monteleone’s in Tarzana, they’ll be in the midst of their 31st year as off-and-on trio mates.

Jolly is a pianist whose light touch, sure sense of swing and discreetly complex yet easy-on-the-ear ideas have made him one of Los Angeles’ most popular pianists--both in clubs and in film and TV studios.

He first gathered Berghofer and Martinis together as a threesome in 1965, when he played the long-defunct Red Chimney in Silver Lake. Before then, the pianist had worked and recorded with both men--separately and together--in various ensembles. He found an immediate empathy, one that has only grown with the years.

“It’s so comfortable,” said Jolly, a soft-spoken 64-year-old who was born Peter Ceragioli in New Haven, Conn., and who now lives in Pasadena. “They each pretty much know what I’m going to do, so that I don’t have to worry about anything. We walk in with no music and just play. Even if we’ve only played a tune once, it’s going to be pretty tight after the second time.”

Jolly called Berghofer, who has played with Shelly Manne and Frank Sinatra, “one of the best, a superb foundation,” and said that Martinis, who’s appeared with Buddy DeFranco and the Lighthouse All-Stars, “can almost read my mind, playing the same figures I play right along with me.”

The affability the men experience in performance extends beyond the bandstand. As Martinis has said, “We’re all kind of laid-back. We have a good time.”

At Monteleone’s, where he works the second Friday of every month, Jolly will draw from a repertoire of close to 500 selections. Many of these, like “Little Bird,” “Sunday” and “Oleo,” will be taken from such albums as 1995’s “Yeah!” (V.S.O.P.), 1990’s “Gems”’ (Holt) and “Pete Jolly and Friends,” a reissue on V.S.O.P. of material that the pianist recorded in the early ‘60s.

If Jolly doesn’t think to play a tune like “Little Bird,” which was something of a jazz hit three decades ago, his fans will probably ask him. “It’s wild. I still get requests,” he exclaimed in his quiet way. “It’s kinda nice that some people have your product. Or someone who’s never seen me before might come up and say, “My dad had your records.’ ”

Jolly’s appealing style grew out of diverse influences, hard-driving be-boppers like Bud Powell and George Wallington and more swing-era-based pianists as Nat Cole and Oscar Peterson.

“I play the way I play,” he said. “I’ve listened to people like Bud and George, but I tried not to steal. I just liked their approach. These days, my playing is more spare, more mature. I used to play more notes. Now I let it happen rather than force it.”

The son of a professional accordionist, Jolly started on accordion at 3 1/2, then began piano studies at 6. “My mother saw that I was interested and bought one,” he said. “I started improvising immediately, changing things I was playing. And when I heard records by Benny Goodman, with Teddy Wilson on piano, I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ ”

Jolly was working early. He played for a V-J Day dance in 1945 when he was still in grammar school. Then in Phoenix, where he moved with his family in 1946, he played all during high school. “I had to get a sub for my high school graduation,” he said with a soft laugh.

The pianist did well when he moved to Los Angeles in 1954. He joined Shorty Rogers’ renowned Giants, made scores of recordings--both as soloist and with others--then moved into studio work, where he prospered. “It was a nice era,” he said.

A somber aspect for Jolly of having thrived in the ‘50s and ‘60s is that many of his cohorts, like Rogers, drummer Manne and bassist Monty Budwig are no longer alive. “I sometimes wake up in the morning,” he said, “and wonder who I’m going to call.”

* Pete Jolly’s trio appears 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday at Monteleone’s West, 19337 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana. No cover; without dinner, $9.95 food/drink minimum. Call (818) 996-0662.

Happy Together: Of course, Jolly’s trio isn’t the only longtime musical partnership around. Pianist Dave Mackay and bassist Andy Simpkins, who appear at Monteleone’s tonight from 7 to 11, have been sonically pleasing each other for 25 years, since they performed together at a 1971 New Year’s Eve party.

“I love Andy’s spirit,” said Mackay, who played regularly with the bassist at the Samoa House in Encino in the early 1970s. “He’s able to play with you and still keep his identity. It’s always new with Andy.”

At Monteleone’s, Mackay and Simpkins will play the first set, then back singer Les Barrett in subsequent sets.