Tony Mottola: Tender Touch

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

When it rains all day after a heavy snow and fog settles in, there's only one thing to do: reach for a bit of what used to be called Easy Listening. But in fairness, to call Tony Mottola "easy listening" is a bit unfair. The superlative guitarist recorded hundreds of albums as a soloist, accompanist and as a member of jazz and pop groups, big and small. [Photo above of Tony Mottola in the '70s, courtesy of Tony Mottola Jr.]

What made Mottola special was his taste, technique and style. As far back as his small-group recordings with pianist Johnny Guarnieri backing Frank Sinatra at Columbia in Oct. 1947 (My Cousin Louella, We Just Couldn't Say Goodbyeand S'posin'), Mottola was impeccable. Throughout the late '40s, he slipped back and forth between jazz and pop. He's on guitar on Sarah Vaughan's Musicraft sessions of 1947 and her Columbia dates in '49, and he's with Billie Holiday in '49. Mottola also was with Toots Thielemans in '55. [Photo above: Tony Mottola in the 1940s, courtesy of Tony Mottola Jr.]

In the mid-'50s, with the advent of the 12-inch LP, Mottola appeared on a steady parade of jazz and pop dates recorded in New York with Benny Goodman, Will Bradley and many others. In 1959, in addition to his already heavy recording and advertising session work, Mottola began a long series of leadership dates for the Command and Project 3 labels—with his signature surge when starting a line, hushing it down and then dragging and bending notes. [Photo above of Tony Mottola in the 1960s, courtesy of Tony Mottola Jr.]

Fortunately, many of these recordings are available as downloads. Easy Listening as a category has been maligned for too long. Though the category certainly has a thick share of artless junk, not all Easy Listening albums were vacuous and worthless. Arranger-bandleader Paul Weston, guitarist Johnny Smith and cornetist Bobby Hackett all made superb easy listening albums. So did Mottola. [Photo of Tony Mottola with Frank Sinatra in 1980, courtesy of Tony Mottola Jr.]

If it's raining where you are today, go to Amazon, set the dropdown to "mp3" and type in "Tony Mottola." You'll find quite a few albums available—and you'll feel better in seconds. [Photo above of Tony Mottola, left, with John and Bucky Pizzarelli, courtesy of Tony Mottola Jr.]

JazzWax tracks: If you're unfamiliar with Tony Mottola,two albums that offer a terrific introduction are The Amazing Sound Of Toots Thielemans(Fresh Sound) here and The Very Best of Tony Mottola(Stardust) here—34 tracks for $8.99.

JazzWax clips: Here's Tony Mottola playing This Guy's in Love With You—his only single under his own name to chart, reaching #22 on Billboard's "Easy Listening Top 40" in the summer of 1968...

This Guy's in Love With You

Here's a clip of Tony Mottola backing Perry Como singingThe Shadow of Your Smile...

Here's Mottola in 1959, on Mr. Big, his first Command release, playing The Song Is You. Mottola is on lead guitar  with Al Caiola (2nd guitar), Don Arnone (3rd guitar), Al Cassamenti (4th guitar), Bucky Pizzarelli (rhythm and bass guitar), Bob Haggart on bass, Moe Wechsler on piano, and Terry Snyder on drums. The engineer was Robert Fine... 

The Song Is You

And here are three fine guitarists in the early '60s "borrowing" Mottola's concept on the same song (though they must have recorded it earlier and are synching here, since their instruments aren't wired)...

Used with permission by Marc Myers