Tony Mottola

Multi-string instrumentalist, Arranger, Producer, TV, Film & Record Composer

MAN & MUSIC

b. Anthony Charles Mottola, April 18, 1918, Kearny, New Jersey

d. August 9, 2004, Denville, New Jersey

“I never considered myself a jazz player. I consider myself a, just an all-around player who did the job that was required, ya know. Whether it was playing banjo, playing classical guitar, playing country music, a little bit of rock n roll … But as an out-and-out jazz player, no! I never considered myself a jazz player.”

TONY MOTTOLA, December 19, 2003

Tony Mottola doesn’t fare too well in The New Edition of the Encyclopedia Of Jazz by Leonard Feather (1960), garnering a messily “Fine Spanish and electric guitarist,” … but he was more than that!

Mottola was a multi-string instrumentalist (acoustic & electric guitar, banjo, ukelele), bandleader, soloist, accompanist, arranger, television, film & record composer, and jazz & pop producer.

At his musical core, we find a solid foundation (solfeggio) and a guitar prowess firmly rooted in the stylings of Eddie Lang & Django Reinhardt. Combine that with a stunning technique, and you have the components of a remarkable jazz guitarist. His 1940s recordings alone bear that out; surprisingly, this is lost on those of Leonard Feather’s ilk.

For someone who didn’t consider himself a “jazz player,” Mottola, nonetheless, recorded in a number of jazz settings where his dazzling technique and fountain of fresh ideas can be heard. Tony Mottola was creative (and innovative) enough to expand his musical horizons; it ultimately secured him a lucrative future in music (something jazz players long for, but save a few, ever attain). The result was the “Mottola sound” … and success!

Starting in 1941, Mottola picked up his first staff job with the CBS radio network (via a recommendation from Carl Kress). Though the studios were filled with able guitarists, by the mid-1940s, Mottola established himself as THE first-call broadcast and studio musician of his day. With the ability to read anything put in front of him, improvise at will, be punctual, cooperative, amiable, with no bad habits (spirits, etc.), Tony Mottola was the kind of talent contractors, producers, and bandleaders loved.

Mottola’s profile was raised immensely in 1950 when he composed and recorded the theme for the TV show “Danger.”

Tony Mottola

FILM & TELEVISION

SOURCE: imdb.com

1949: Make Mine Music, CBS TV series-Tony Mottola Trio.

1950-1954: Danger, CBS TV Series-composer, performer.

1953: Violated, Film Soundtrack-composer, performer (solo guitar).

1953: The Big Story, NBC TV Series-Unforgettable episode.

1954-1955: The Inner Flame, CBS TV Series.

1956: Giant, Film Soundtrack-guitarist.

1961: The Joke and the Valley, Hallmark Hall of Fame TV Movie.

1964: My Childhood: Part 1: Hubert Humphrey’s South Dakota; Part 2: James Baldwin’s Harlem-WNEW TV Special-composer.

1988: Running on Empty, Film Soundtrack-composer, guitarist.

In 1964, he won an EMMY Award for Composer Best TV Documentary; My Childhood: Part 1: Hubert Humphrey’s South Dakota; Part 2: James Baldwin’s Harlem. The 1960s and 70s saw him release numerous recordings for Enoch Light; his best-selling album was the 1961 Command Records release Roman Guitar.

He was the featured guitarist with the Tonight Show Orchestra (under Skitch Henderson) …

Tony Mottola, Skitch Henderson & Johnny Carson, c. mid. 1960’s, courtesy of the Estate Of Tony Mottola.

and taught Johnny Carson how to play the guitar!

Accompanied Perry Como on his recordings and television shows and finished his career with eight years of globetrotting as Frank Sinatra’s accompanist (1980-1988). This is A-list work!

Perry Como TV Show, 1966, courtesy of the Estate of Tony Mottola.

Frank Sinatra, May 1980, courtesy of the Estate of Tony Mottola

Obituary of Anthony C Mottola (excerpt)

Tony Mottola, Guitarist and Composer

Tony Mottola, one of the most recorded guitarists in the history of popular music and an influence on a generation of jazz guitar players died on August 9 (2004) after suffering a stroke several days earlier. He was 86.

During a career that spanned five decades he recorded more than 50 albums and, as New York City’s most in demand session guitarist, he appeared on thousands of recordings by a hall of fame roster of artists including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Burl Ives, Rosemary Clooney, Billie Holiday, Connie Francis, Johnny Desmond, and many others.

Mottola was member of local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the Gibson Guitar Hall of Fame.

SOURCE: normandean.com/tribute/details/1406/Anthony-Mottola/obituary.html