Tony Mattola - Roma Oggi

Speaking of hard sells: which alternate universe had Tony Mattola as America's Greatest Guitarist, and can i please apply for relocation?
Even Google questioned whether i actually meant Tommy Mattola, when i clearly didn't. That makes me sad.

I mean, yeah the cover is farcical, but i'm sure there some truth to the notion that Italians like smoking and motorcycles and boobs. No, the music doesn't sound like that, but it does sound like continental Europe circa 1968. Larcange sounded like France, Mattola sounds like Italy, and they both sound like they are shaking martinis as they dad tango across the white shag carpeting in their knee high socks and tennis shorts.

It's a lot like Larcange's album, only for guitar and with a little more improvisation. It's department store jazz guitar, and i actually really like it. He sounds like he's having fun, maybe not Django fun, but still.

The thing i hate about bad jazz guitar is the same thing i hate about bad metal: it's so stupid easy to just give up and be a douchebag, play 700 notes in the space of three, not care that the listener has to try to follow your nonsense. Mattola doesn't do that; he plays fast when the song is fast, and he plays some amazing, but still musically relevant runs when there's space to do so.

He doesn't steer too far in the other direction either (harmonic oatmeal with 27 different voicings of the same 2 dominant 11th chords like a lot of other jazz guitarists). He plays guitar like it's meant to be played, and though you might find the general style a little campy, i'd take this over Steve Vai or Joe Satriani or Paul Gilbert or Pat Methany 24 days out of every month of the year.

If i made it sound like he was a nobody, then i apologize. He was highly successful, he played in The Tonight Show band for a while, played duets with Sinatra, hung out with Perry Como and Sid Caesar, even won an Emmy. Most of all though, he makes the guitar sound fun to play and he has a style that makes you think "i can learn to do that." That's much preferable to "smash my useless fingers with a sledgehammer 'cause Yngwie," but vacant amazement always seems to stick around longer than it should. Trust me, the world doesn't need 47 more Paganinis, it needs better music that doesn't require all that non-nutritious shredded lettuce to make it sound impressive.

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