Like many of his contemporaries, Mottola began learning to play the banjo, but then took up the guitar. He had his first guitar lessons from his father. He toured with an orchestra led by
George Hall in 1936, marking the beginning of his professional life. Mottola's first recordings were duets with the guitarist
Carl Kress. By the age of only twenty-one, he was recruited by Kress to serve as a staff guitarist at the
CBS Radio network. During his tenure with the network, he founded the Tony Mottola Trio which was featured on
Johnny Desmond's show
Face the Music. In 1945, he also collaborated with the accordionist
John Serry Sr. in a recording of "Leone Jump" for Sonora Records (MS-476-3) which was played in
jukeboxes throughout the U.S. In 1946, he also joined forces with Serry and other members of the Joe Biviano Accordion and Rhythm Sextette in a recording for Sonora Records which included
Tom Delaney's composition "Jazz Me Blues" (
Accordion Capers, MS-476). Subsequently, in 1948, Mottola's trio collaborated with Carole Coleman and
Danny Daniels on the CBS program
Make Mine Music. During his tenure at CBS, Mottola also collaborated with
Sidney Lumet,
Paddy Chayefsky,
John Frankenheimer, and
Rod Serling. From 1958 to 1972, he was a member of
The Tonight Show Orchestra led by
Skitch Henderson, He retired from the music business in 1988 but kept playing at home almost every day. ==Discography==