Circle Is Complete : Al Viola is again playing with Page Cavanaugh, with whom he first gained notice in the ‘40s.

Al Viola’s musical life has come full circle.

The guitarist first gained renown working with pianist Page Cavanaugh’s trio-- with whom he appeared from 1946 to 1949 and made three films, including “Romance on the High Seas,” starring Doris Day and directed by Michael Curtiz (of “Casablanca” fame).

Recalling those ‘40s salad days, Viola says, “We were like the white Nat (King) Cole trio, but we were different in that we all sang.” The third member of the trio was bassist Lloyd Pratt.

Tonight, the veteran guitarist with the round, silky tone and spiffy execution appears again with Cavanaugh’s trio, which he rejoined about five years ago. With Phil Mallory on bass now, the trio will perform Thursdays through Saturdays at JP’s The Money Tree in Toluca Lake.

“But I don’t sing anymore.” Viola’s blue eyes flash. “I’m over 70 years old, and I don’t give a damn about singing,” he says with a laugh.

The guitarist comes across as vital, enthusiastic, likable and unpretentious. A look at the mementos scattered around his Studio City dining room makes it evident that from his first days to today with Cavanaugh, the guitarist has had a wonderful whirl.

There are framed letters, such as the thank-you note from then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, then a photo of Viola with President John F. Kennedy--the musician was performing at the White House with singer Julie London. And there are photos of the guitarist with Cavanaugh and with Frank Sinatra--at the now-defunct Gilmore Field in Hollywood in the ‘50s, at the Great Pyramid of Giza in 1979.

Viola, a native of Brooklyn, ultimately became one of Los Angeles’ most reliable studio performers, appearing on more than 500 albums with everyone from June Christy and London to Jimmy Witherspoon and Marvin Gaye. He’s played on countless film and TV soundtracks, among them “The Godfather”--he’s the solo mandolinist who performs the now-classic theme--”West Side Story” and “Blazing Saddles.”

“When I was involved in studio work, the music was tops,” Viola says of the period from the mid-’50s to the late ‘70s. “Not just playing standard tunes, but original music, voiced with great harmony.”

Perhaps the high point of his career was the association with Sinatra, with whom he performed intermittently from 1946 to 1980. Viola made appearances with the singer anywhere from the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas to the Parthenon in Athens, and played on such albums as “Nice ‘n’ Easy,” “Only the Lonely” and “Ring-a-Ding-Ding.”

“The big hits, ‘My Way,’ ‘New York, New York,’ ‘Strangers in the Night’--I was on all of those,” he says, standing in the memorabilia-packed dining room of the Studio City home he shares with his wife of 48 years, Glenna.

Viola can be heard on a new Sinatra release, “Sinatra and Sextet: Live in Paris” (Reprise), which documents a 1962 performance done at the Club Lido in Paris, part of an 11-week world tour.

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“We had a good jazz band with Emil Richards, vibes, and Harry Klee, reeds,” Viola says. “I would warm Frank up, just me and him, before the shows, and then during the shows, we did a number together. He was great to me.”

Besides his studio career, Viola has done well as a jazzman, recording 19 albums under his own name and appearing with reedman Buddy Collette.

The guitarist says that when he played again with Cavanaugh in the late ‘80s, working a couple of weekends at a club in the San Fernando Valley, he didn’t foresee another lengthy relationship.

“Page had been playing solo in Vegas for six years, and here he was with me and bassist Frank Della Rosa, and it was rough,” recalls Viola. “When you play solo, you don’t have to worry about time, and at first, his time was terrible. But by the second night of the second weekend, it was all jelling, and I said to him, ‘You’ve got yourself a band.’ ”

Cavanaugh, who says he’s thrilled to be working with Viola again, calls the guitarist “totally brilliant, a demon guitar player.”

The trio offers seamless interpretations of standards and arcane numbers from Hollywood musicals of the ‘30s and ‘40s.

“You know, there are no written arrangements for this stuff,” Viola says. “Page and I just have chemistry. We just hit it. That’s the way it’s always been.”

WHERE AND WHEN

What: Al Viola appears with the Page Cavanaugh trio.

Location: JP’s The Money Tree, 10149 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake.

Hours: 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

Price: No cover, no minimum.

Call: (818) 769-8800.