Representative Albums: "Contemporaries of the Jazz Guitar
Biography
A reliable guitarist with a cool tone, a hard-swinging style, and strong technical skills, Al Viola had been an asset to every session that he appeared on, and there have been many. Viola played in a jazz band while in the Army (1942-45), where he met Page Cavanaugh. When they both decided to move to California after their discharge in 1946, they teamed with bassist Lloyd Pratt to form a trio that was very popular during the next three years, appearing in a few Hollywood films (including "A Song Is Born") and recording frequently. The trio accompanied Frank Sinatra on a few occasions during 1946-1947, and when the combo broke up, Viola started working on and off with Sinatra though 1980. In addition, Viola became a very busy studio musician in Los Angeles, performing on the soundtracks of a countless number of films (including playing the prominent mandolin part in The Godfather), television shows, and commercials. Among his more jazz-oriented associations have been engagements with Bobby Troup, Ray Anthony, Harry James, Buddy Collette, Stan Kenton, Gerald Wilson, and Terry Gibbs among many others; in addition to Collette, Viola also recorded in the 1950s and '60s with Jimmy Witherspoon, Helen Humes, and June Christy. In the 1980s, Viola had a reunion with Cavanaugh and soon they were working together on a regular basis in a Los Angeles area club as a trio with bassist Phil Mallory; this association continued into the late '90s, when Viola dropped out of the group. In his career, Viola led three albums, unaccompanied solo dates for Mode (from 1957, reissued by VSOP) and Legend, plus a Frank Sinatra tribute album for PBR (1978); highlights of the latter two sets were reissued on a CD by Starline. Shortly after being diagnosed, Viola succumbed to cancer on February 21, 2007. He was 88. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Alfred Viola (June 16, 1919 – February 21, 2007) was an American jazz guitarist who worked with Frank Sinatra for 25 years and also played the mandolin on the soundtrack of the film The Godfather.[1]
Viola grew up in an Italian family in Brooklyn, and learned to play guitar as a teenager. He enlisted in the Army during World War II from 1942 to 1945, and played in a jazz band there. After he was discharged in 1946, he and Page Cavanaugh, whom he had met while serving, joined bassist Lloyd Pratt in a trio. The ensemble recorded for several films, including A Song Is Born, and played with Frank Sinatra for a few dates in 1946 and 1947. Viola continued to work with Sinatra regularly, accompanying him on several hundreds of studio recordings and concert dates between 1956 and 1980.
Viola and Cavanaugh reunited in the 1980s with Phil Mallory, continuing to play regularly in the Los Angeles area until the late 1990s. In 2005, he collaborated with Judy Chamberlain on a "Jazz Salute to Frank Sinatra" in Hollywood.
Viola died of cancer in 2007 at age 88. In his New York Times obituary, Chamberlain is quoted as saying, "he was a chameleon and could play in any style — that was his great talent." She added, "he was a flawless player. You could barely see his hands move, he was so smooth and quick with his fingers."[1]
Solo discography
Solo Guitar (Mode, 1957)
Guitar Lament (World Pacific, 1961)
Guitars (Liberty)
Guitars Volume 2 (Liberty)
Imagination (Liberty)
Alone Again (Legend, 1973)
Salutations For Frank Sinatra (Legend, 1974)
Mellow As A Cello (Starline, 1994)
The Memory Of All That: The Chairman's Board Salutes Sinatra (Avanti, 1998)
Stringin'The Blues (Jazzology, recorded at the jazz festival in Ascona 2002)
