Tom Guarna, guitarist, composer, and arranger was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began his musical career when he was 15 years old, when his father introduced the guitar to him. He is a sought-after commodity in the music business due to his natural ability to play and compose with phrasing that is reminiscent of his idols. He performs and records with international jazz groups and is available for first-call on many projects including session work, concerts, venues, tours, large arenas, and jazz venues. Guarna began studying classical guitar composition and performance at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Robert Starer and guitar with Michael Cedric Smith. He moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to attend Guitar Institute of Technology. He returned to New York shortly after graduating. He played local gigs and studied with John Abercrombie and Steve Kahn. Guarna started working with James McBride, a saxophonist, and best-selling author (The Color of Water), in 1991. His band included Gene Jackson, bassist Tracy Wormworth, and drummer Gene Jackson. Tom Guarna joined Blood Sweat and Tears in 1995 and toured extensively with them for the next three seasons. He has developed his own style as a jazz guitarist and has performed with many artists, including Branford Marsalis (Mark Turner), Branford Marsalis (Branford Marsalis), Lenny White (Mulgrew Miller), Billy Hart, Dr. Loni Smith, Greg Hutchinson), Javon Jackson, Les McCann. Gary Bartz. Seamus Blake, Marcus Strickland. Ben Williams. Craig Handy. Uri Caine. Chris Minh Doky. The Yellow Jacketsmulyan, Gary Smulyan. Strickland and Billy Drummond, The Allman Brothers and Helen Sung. from http://tomguarnamusic.com/www.tomguarnamusic.com/Home.html