Heart & Soul Guitar

Tony Mottola

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 29, 2002)
• Original Release Date: January 29, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00005V8J2
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #92,051 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smooth and easy playing from guitar legend, February 19, 2002

By	hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Tony Mottola (not to be confused with Mariah Carey's ex-husband, Tommy Mottola) is one of the most listened to guitarists, if not well-known names, in pop music history. In addition to dozens of his own albums, he was featured on nearly 150 of Enoch Light's pioneering stereo LPs for Command and Project 3, as well as countless pop and jazz studio sessions. Television viewers heard Mottola with the Tonight Show band, and concert audiences saw him accompanying Perry Como and Frank Sinatra.

This disc collects sixteen tracks from 1967-1983, highlighting Mottola's fluid, relaxed style in small group settings. His playing swings ever-so-easily between tin-pan alley ("Stardust" "Always"), jazz standards ("Satin Doll"), Sinatra's songbook ("All the Way" "Fly Me to the Moon"), and even soft-rock classics (Bread's "If"). Though not the dizzying, channel-romping productions of his work with Light, the instruments of Dick Hyman, Joe Venuto and Bucky Pizzarelli are broadly panned for maximum stereo satisfaction.

Mottola's was heavily influenced (as was virtually every guitarist starting out in the '40s) by Charlie Christian. Over the years he developed a warm tone and melodic touch similar to Wes Montgomery's lighter side, turning romantic ballads such as these into smooth, mood-soothing music. Perfect for a candlelight dinner or a quiet read on the couch.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frank Sinatra's Favorite Guitarist!, February 6, 2002

By A Customer

I love guitarists. The guitar is an instrument that I love to hear competent musicians play. One of the most underrated, in my humble opinion, is Tony Mottola. He once was listed as one of Frank Sinatra's favorite guitarists. He has toured with Sinatra as well. This collection is just beautiful guitar playing at it's best. Subtlety and emotion shine through every note Mr. Mottola strums, picks or plays a string. If you want to hear classic standards like It Had To Be You, So Nice (summer Samba), Tea For Two, Bewitched, Satin Doll, et al, this collection is a good one to pick up. I play it at dinner parties, when I read or sometimes when I am typing a report for work. I know 3 people who have purchased this CD because they heard me playing it. I also recommend this to Guitar afficionados AND music students.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, but far from the original, February 16, 2004

By	Ian Daimler (Hamburg, Germany) - See all my reviews

Love the music, but I was hoping the CD would include the same tracks as the original Total Sound LP release. I came across an original unopened LP from 1966 which has only 2 of the same tracks found on the CD. The original track listing is: 1. Heart and Soul 2. If He Walked into My Life 3. Lullabye of The Leaves 4. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You 5. Tony's Tune 6. Little Girl Blue (Side 2) 1. Georgia 2. Love is Here to Stay 3. Jimmy's Blues 4. The Gang that Sang Heart of My Heart 5. The Impossible Dream 6. My Ideal

But, what can I say, it's Tony Mottola! You can't go wrong with this album either way.