Johnny Guarnieri

[thomastreichler]

Johnny Guarnieri was one of the truly great swing piano stylists and one of a handful (or two) of superb stride players. He was part of several first rate swing sessions in the 40's (some of them classics like the recordings with Benny Goodman's Sextet and Septet, the famous quartet recordings of Lester Young on Keynote and the Gramercy Five sessions with Artie Shaw). He was scarcely recorded after the 40's, but did two outstanding solo albums in 1978 ("Fatscinatin'") and 1984 ("Echoes Of Ellington").

Guarnieri, a descendant of the famous italian family of violin builders, had phenomenal technique and a light swinging touch. He was, to my ears, influenced by Fats Waller, Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson, a great accompanist and capable of producing interesting and always swinging solos. The two solo sessions already mentioned (issued on the rather obscure labels Caz Jaz and Star Line respectively) are highly recommended for lovers of swing piano; Guarnieri displays his inventive approach and superb technique to great advantage on two tributes to Fats Waller and Duke Ellington.

Any other recommendations (solo or trio) and / or oppinions on this unduly neglected pianist?

[EKE BBB]

Agreee re: your praise to Johnny Guarnieri.

Don't miss the Black&Blue disc, Walla Walla (1975), also issued on Classic Jazz as Gliss Me Again

Other recordings lead by Guarnieri include:

-the Johnny Guarnieri sessions for Savoy (from 1944), one with his All Star Orchestra including Lester Young, another one as a trio

-the Johnny Guarnier Quartet with Don Byas ('45)

-his trio and quartet dates for Majestic (1946); his solo dates for the same label (1947)

-several transcriptions, issued by IAJRC and Jazz Unlimited

-Sings and Plays (Admiral, 1950)

-The Duke Again and The Songs of Hudson and DeLange (Coral, 1956)

-Plays Johnnie Guarnieri (Golden Crest, 1957)

-& His Group (Camden, '56-'57)

-Piano Dimensions on Dot (1965)

-Plays Harry Warren on Jim Taylor Presents label (1973)

-Breakthrough in 5/4 (Bet, 1976)

-Superstride (Caz-Jazz, 1976)

-Plays Walter Donaldson on Dobre (1978)

-Stealin' Apples (JG plays Fats Waller) (Caz-Jazz, 1978)

-Keep on Dreamin' and Original on Jim Taylor Presents, both from 1979

-Echoes of Ellington on Sounds Great (1984)

Best regards,

Agustín

Edited May 13, 2008 by EKE BBB

[Harold_Z]

You can see him do a solo version of In a Mist on the video of Chicago and All that Jazz.

If you can find them (probably can with a little hunting) there are two Chronogical Classics by JG.

[thomastreichler]

Agreee re: your praise to Johnny Guarnieri.

Don't miss the Black&Blue disc, Walla Walla (1975), also issued on Classic Jazz as Gliss Me Again

Other recordings lead by Guarnieri include:

-the Johnny Guarnieri sessions for Savoy (from 1944), one with his All Star Orchestra including Lester Young, another one as a trio

-the Johnny Guarnier Quartet with Don Byas ('45)

-his trio and quartet dates for Majestic (1946); his solo dates for the same label (1947)

-several transcriptions, issued by IAJRC and Jazz Unlimited

-Sings and Plays (Admiral, 1950)

-The Duke Again and The Songs of Hudson and DeLange (Coral, 1956)

-Plays Johnnie Guarnieri (Golden Crest, 1957)

-& His Group (Camden, '56-'57)

-Piano Dimensions on Dot (1965)

-Plays Harry Warren on Jim Taylor Presents label (1973)

-Breakthrough in 5/4 (Bet, 1976)

-Superstride (Taz-Jaz, 1976)

-Plays Walter Donaldson on Dobre (1978)

-Stealin' Apples (JG plays Fats Waller) (Taz-Jaz, 1978)

-Keep on Dreamin' and Original on Jim Taylor Presents, both from 1979

-Echoes of Ellington on Sounds Great (1984)

Best regards,

Agustín

Thanks very much, Augustin. Guarnieri seemed to have recorded more in the 50's, 60's and 70's than I was aware of. Do you know if any of these albums have been reissued on cd?

[thomastreichler]

If you can find them (probably can with a little hunting) there are two Chronogical Classics by JG.

Thanks, Harold. I already spotted the two Chronological Classics. They are on my want list.

[AllenLowe]

I love Guarnieri and saw him only once, playing solo at a bar called Hanratty's, late 1970s in NYC - I always considered him and Art Hodes to be two reasons things were so f-ed up in jazz, and later with the Lincoln Center crew - if those guys had been black they would both have been held up by Crouch/Marsalis et al as shining examples of primary source jazz, as the tradition, as the true meaning of jazz - but both were pretty much ignored by the NY jazz establishment - shameful - Guranieri was brilliant in person, could play the most amazing stride, swing, anything - and Hodes, also, was wonderful (his records don't do him justice; the sound of his playing had to be experienced up close); he had a touch that made you feel like you were in Chicago, ca. 1930 -

Edited May 13, 2008 by AllenLowe

[EKE BBB]

Thanks very much, Augustin. Guarnieri seemed to have recorded more in the 50's, 60's and 70's than I was aware of. Do you know if any of these albums have been reissued on cd?

I will post this tonight.

Sadly, for the number of posts in this thread, it looks like there's not much interest on good old Johnny!

[king ubu]

I like what little I heard of him... the Classics, of course including the great session with Prez... otherwise it's mostly just some sideman appearances.

[Big Beat Steve]

Sadly, for the number of posts in this thread, it looks like there's not much interest on good old Johnny!

Of course there is. It's just that the essential has already been said.

Being (a.o.) a 40s jazz nut, in fact Johnny Guarnieri has always been one of those where I figured if he's in the line-up it's bound to be good (and I've never been disappointed).

As for records to check out, there was a JG LP on the IAJRC collector label that tied up a few loose ends as it brought together great performances (mostly from the 78 rpm era) that had been scattered here and there and therefore had been unjustly overlooked.

Would have to look at my copy of the LP tonight for more details.

Edited May 27, 2008 by Big Beat Steve

[gaston]

i'm a big fan of guarnieri since i heard him with lester young ( keynote ) . he recorded for "black and blue" with slam stewart, who was the leader, an album called "fish scales" , infortunately it was not the best of his carrer ( nor for slam )

[AllenLowe]

I tell you, hearing him in person was like listening to a peer of Fats Waller -

[thomastreichler]

I tell you, hearing him in person was like listening to a peer of Fats Waller -

That is exactly the impression I get when listening to his solo recordings.

[EKE BBB]

I tell you, hearing him in person was like listening to a peer of Fats Waller -

That is exactly the impression I get when listening to his solo recordings.

For a Fats Waller imitator (this said in the nicest sense), check Pat Flowers.

[AllenLowe]

Guarnieri really had his own thing - and I want to reiterate how Crow-Jim his treatment was, in the historical sense - same with Art Hodes, who I saw at the same restaurant where I saw Guarnieri (Hanratty's in NYC in the 1970s) -

[Chas]

I like what little I heard of him... the Classics, of course including the great session with Prez... otherwise it's mostly just some sideman appearances.

This pretty much sums up my experience/exposure . Never laid eyes on those Coral sides or that solo date he did in '65 for Dot .

Here're a couple of pics of Johnny :

Here you can see his famously small hands

And here he is looking like Jean-Paul Sartre

[MartyJazz]

I have a video of Guarnieri, actually playing with a Coleman Hawkins led group, William B. Williams hosting. I have converted it to DVD-R. Here are the details, although the date is unknown, I would guess it to be late '50s, perhaps early '60s:

“After Hours” TV show, William B. Williams Host

Coleman Hawkins (ts); Roy Eldridge (tp); Johnny Guarnieri (p); Barry Galbraith (g);

Milt Hinton (b); Cozy Cole (d). 26 mins.

1. Lover Man

2. Sunday

3. Taking a Chance on Love

4. Just You, Just Me

[bichos]

I have a video of Guarnieri, actually playing with a Coleman Hawkins led group, William B. Williams hosting. I have converted it to DVD-R. Here are the details, although the date is unknown, I would guess it to be late '50s, perhaps early '60s:

“After Hours” TV show, William B. Williams Host

Coleman Hawkins (ts); Roy Eldridge (tp); Johnny Guarnieri (p); Barry Galbraith (g);

Milt Hinton (b); Cozy Cole (d). 26 mins.

1. Lover Man

2. Sunday

3. Taking a Chance on Love

4. Just You, Just Me

yes, this film is great. here are the infos from "david meeker: jazz on the screen":

AFTER HOURS (1961)

USA 1961 – m – tv

dir Shepard Traube

Songs: "Lover man" by Jimmy Davis, Ram

Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman; "Sunday" by

Chester Conn, Ned Miller, Benny Krueger, Jule

Styne; "Taking a chance on love" by Vernon

Duke, John Latouche, Ted Fetter (CS).

With: Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Coleman

Hawkins, tenor sax; Johnny Guarnieri, piano;

Barry Galbraith, guitar; Milt Hinton, acoustic

double bass; Cozy Cole, drums; Carol Stevens,

vocal.

keep boppin´

marcel

[EKE BBB]

Johnny Guarnieri with Lester Young - April 18, 1944 session

[hopkins]

I have been listening to Guarnieri's Echoes of Ellington album this week:

https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/8976873-Johnny-Guarnieri-Echoes-Of-Ellington

His playing is exciting, and I find it really interesting how he is able to recreate the "mood" of Ellington’s composition. 

[mhatta]

I was surprised to find Johnny Guarnieri's The Duke Again on Spotify; I'm pretty sure it was never released on CD. It's a good, if unspectacular, performance by a small group.  Guarnieri was one of the great interpreters of Ellington Music.

 

[hopkins]

3 hours ago, mhatta said:

I was surprised to find Johnny Guarnieri's The Duke Again on Spotify; I'm pretty sure it was never released on CD. It's a good, if unspectacular, performance by a small group.  Guarnieri was one of the great interpreters of Ellington Music.

 

Yes, I listened to some of  that album as well but prefer the solo album I mentioned. 

[Peter Friedman]

I am a big fan Of Guarnieri. His two Chronogical Classics CDs - 956 and 1063 are favorites of mine.

Though I never had a chance to see Guarnieri live, I did see Art Hodes live once or twice and thoroughly enjoyed his playing. A number of Hodes CDs sit on my shelf as well.

[hopkins]

1 hour ago, Peter Friedman said:

Though I never had a chance to see Guarnieri live, I did see Art Hodes live once or twice and thoroughly enjoyed his playing. A number of Hodes CDs sit on my shelf as well.

I regularly listen to "I Remember Bessie". Wonderful late Hodes

https://archive.org/details/lp_i-remember-bessie_art-hodes

[Chuck Nessa]

16 minutes ago, hopkins said:

I regularly listen to "I Remember Bessie". Wonderful late Hodes

https://archive.org/details/lp_i-remember-bessie_art-hodes

Available on Delmark with 5 bonus tracks.

[hopkins]

51 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Available on Delmark with 5 bonus tracks.

I actually have the Delmark version, but I put the link to the only version I found on the Internet Archive, for the liner notes. I should have mentioned the Delmark version. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by hopkins