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Pianist/organist/accordionist Pete Jolly (1932-2004), born Peter Ceragioli, Jr., made his debut as a leader in 1955 on the RCA label.  After moves to labels including Liberty and Columbia, Jolly landed at A&M Records in 1968.  Co-founder Herb Alpert – the A in A&M – personally produced or co-produced all three of Jolly’s long-players for the Hollywood label.  Songs by A&M mainstays such as Roger Nichols, Burt Bacharach, and Antonio Carlos Jobim populated the albums.  The third of Jolly’s A&M trilogy, 1970’s Seasons, took on a mystique all its own, though, when hip-hop artists including Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, Redman, and Cypress Hill sampled its dreamy sounds.  On March 29, Light in the Attic’s Future Days Recordings imprint will bring Seasons back to vinyl for the first time in more than half a century as newly remastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearant audio.  The vinyl has been pressed at RTI in two different colors: clear amber and clear light green, both available exclusively from Light in the Attic.

Seasons starkly differentiated from Jolly’s first two A&M LPs in that it was primarily recorded in one four-hour, largely improvised session.  Jolly played a variety of instruments including a Wurlitzer electric piano, Fender Rhodes, accordion, musette, Sanovox accordion organ, and Hammond B3.  He led an instrumental ensemble filled with Wrecking Crew veterans such as Chuck Berghofer on bass, John Pisano on guitar, Milt Holland on percussion, and Emil Richards on percussion.  Veteran jazz drummer Paul Humphrey anchored the sessions. All but two tracks on the album were originals borne out of the group’s joint improvisation.  (Some overdubbing did occur later, including a brass chart by Bill Holman for “The Indian’s Summer.”)  A mellow reimagining of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific standard “Younger Than Springtime” and Roger Nichols’ bright, original title track “Seasons” rounded out the LP.

LITA’s upcoming reissue features new liner notes by Dave Segal drawing on interviews with Herb Alpert and Chuck Berghofer.  Alpert told Segal, “I was really struck by [Jolly’s] amazing talent.  His music really spoke to me.”  Berghofer added, “We’d never done anything like [Seasons] before or since.  It was just made up as you go along.  He’d start playing, and we’d just follow him.  Instead of straight-ahead tunes, it was a whole other world.”  Ethereal yet accessible, improvisatory yet still rooted in melody, Seasons became a cult favorite within the varied A&M catalogue for its beguiling blend of cool jazz, soft pop, and evocative electronica.

Pete Jolly continued to record for numerous smaller labels, but never returned to the sonic palette of Seasons; he made key musical contributions to such soundtracks as Johnny Mandel’s original M*A*S*H, Burt Bacharach’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Quincy Jones’ Roots, Tom Waits’ One from the Heart, and Clint Eastwood’s Bird, during which Jolly painstakingly recreated the late, great Bud Powell’s piano performances originally recorded with the biopic’s subject, Charlie Parker.

Original LP copies of Seasons typically sell for three figures, making LITA’s upcoming reissue an affordable way to acquire this transcendent music.  (It’s only been reissued on CD once, too – by Dusty Groove in 2007.  That edition, too, has become relatively pricey.)  Look for this remarkable fusion of A&M’s soft pop sound with ambient and jazz styles on March 29.  You’ll find the track listing and pre-order link below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Pete Jolly, Seasons (A&M LP SP-3033, 1970 – reissued Light in the Attic/Future Days, 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Leaves
2. Younger than Springtime
3. Bees
4. Rainbows
5. Plummer Park
6. Springs

Side B

1. Seasons
2. Sand Storm
3. Autumn Festival
4. Prairie Road
5. The Indian’s Summer
6. Pete Jolly