Johnny Guarnieri ranked among the era’s most accomplished pianists in the 1940s, displaying an uncanny facility for replicating the styles of Fats Waller, Count Basie, and Art Tatum. That versatility kept him steadily employed throughout his peak period. He began formal classical studies at age ten before turning to jazz. In 1939 he entered Benny Goodman’s orchestra and appeared on numerous sessions with both the full ensemble and Goodman’s sextet. The following year he moved to Artie Shaw’s orchestra, where his harpsichord work on the popular Gramercy Five dates brought him wider recognition. Subsequent stints with Goodman in 1941 and Shaw again in 1941–1942 preceded a two-year engagement with Tommy Dorsey from 1942 to 1943, after which he worked as a freelance musician. Among the notable sessions from this period were collaborations with Lester Young on “Sometimes I’m Happy,” Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Rex Stewart, Don Byas, and Louis Armstrong on “Jack-Armstrong Blues.” Between 1944 and 1947 he also led his own dates, one of which featured Lester Young in a supporting role. Late in the decade Guarnieri joined NBC’s staff orchestra. He later appeared in the 1961 Coleman Hawkins/Roy Eldridge television pilot After Hours, relocated to California during the 1960s where he concentrated on solo piano, and made several European tours in the 1970s. On many of his later albums he experimented with stride piano in 5/4 meter. Across the decades he recorded as a leader for Savoy, Majestic, Coral in 1956, Golden Crest, Camden, Dot, Black & Blue, Dobre, and Taz-Jazz in 1976 and 1978.
