Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop.

[1] He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of the biggest names in music during the 20th century, including Elvis Presley, Ray Conniff, Ferrante & Teicher, Frank Sinatra, Percy Faith, Buddy Holly, Mitch Miller, and Tony Bennett.

By the age of sixteen he appeared as both a vocalist and guitarist on the children's radio program Sally and Sam in collaboration with Tony Mottola.

As part of his audition, he was required to appear on shows with Gordon MacRae, Archie Bleyer and the vocalist Patty Clayton.

[7][8][9][10] Later in the decade in 1959, his collaboration with Tony Mottola and Johnny Mathis on the smash album Open Fire, Two Guitars for Columbia Records also received favorable reviews.

In the early 1970s he continued on the Avalanche Recordings label, producing similar work including the album Theme From the 'Magnificent 7 Ride' '73.

[21] During the course of his professional career, Caiola also performed under the musical direction of several leading conductors including: Percy Faith, Morton Gould and Andre Kostelanetz.

His pianist, Mo Wechsler observed that he was a versatile well rounded musician who was comfortable playing either jazz, rock and roll and even classical music.