Sal DiTroia

Gifted session musician and classical guitarist Sal DiTroia died at home on Friday, June 22, 2007, of an apparent heart attack. As well as an amazing talent, Sal was a wonderful person with a great sense of humor, as well as a dear friend of mine. I first met Sal more than a year ago, and during the past couple of months our friendship really took off, when I assisted him on a couple of web pages. Sal is originally from New York but had come down to live in the Tampa Bay (Florida) area a few years ago in order to be closer to his parents. We would meet for lunch or dinner whenever his schedule allowed for it. Sal was a very busy guy, always creating and always performing.

Sal worked with the best producers and arrangers in the business - Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Leiber and Stoller, Shadow Morton, Artie Butler, and Lee Holdridge among others. He performed on recordings by The Shangri-Las, Billy Joel, Dionne Warwick, Simon & Garfunkel, Barbra Streisand, Janis Ian, The Monkees, and The Archies. That's Sal's guitar you hear right after the opening organ notes in "I'm a Believer" - he was the lead guitarist on that track, and that riff earned him the nickname "Sal The Hook" from session producer Jeff Barry. In addition, Sal can be heard on the soundtrack for the 1972 motion picture, The Godfather.

A member of the Tampa Bay Fingerstyle Guitar Guild, Sal entertained at many public and private functions, opening for acts at venues such as the Largo (FL) Cultural Center and headlining or co-headlining at many others. Sal was scheduled to be one of the featured artists at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) Convention in Nashville, TN on July 11.

For more information on Sal, and to hear some of his beautiful music, please visit his official site (link above) and his MySpace profile. The latter page features several recent videos of Sal performing as well as five full-length songs on the music player.

If you are a friend or relative of Sal's or just enjoyed his music, please visit the message board to post your comments, memories, tributes or condolences, and to read posts by others who knew and loved him.