Al Viola
Alfred Viola (June 16, 1919 – February 21, 2007) was an American jazz guitarist who worked with Frank Sinatra for 25 years. He played the mandolin on the soundtrack of the film The Godfather.[1][2]
Alfred Viola
Alfred Viola
June 16, 1919
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
February 21, 2007 (aged 87)
Los Angeles, California
Jazz
Musician
Guitar, mandolin
1940s–1980s
Biography[edit]
Viola grew up in an Italian family in Brooklyn[3] and learned to play the guitar and mandolin as a teenager. He enlisted in the Army during World War II and played in an Army jazz band[3] from 1942 to 1945. He started a trio with Page Cavanaugh and bassist Lloyd Pratt.[3] The band appeared in several films, including Romance on the High Seas with Doris Day, and played a few dates in 1946 and 1947 with Frank Sinatra. Viola continued to work with Sinatra regularly, accompanying him on several hundred studio recordings and concert dates between 1956 and 1980.
Viola was a session musician in Los Angeles, performing in films and television. His mandolin playing can be heard on the soundtrack of The Godfather.[3] Other credits include West Side Story and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?[3] He continued playing jazz as well, with Bobby Troup, Ray Anthony, Harry James, Buddy Collette, Stan Kenton, Gerald Wilson and Terry Gibbs.[3]
He worked as a session musician on over 500 albums,[3] including releases by Natalie Cole, Neil Diamond, Marvin Gaye, Julie London, Steve Lawrence, Linda Ronstadt,[3] Jimmy Witherspoon, Helen Humes, June Christy, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, Nelson Riddle, and Joe Williams.
Viola and Cavanaugh reunited in the 1980s with Phil Mallory and continued to play regularly in Los Angeles until the late 1990s.