Charles "Buzz" Guarnera (March 23, 1930 – February 1, 2004) was an Americantrumpet andflugelhorn player. Under the name Buzz Gardner, he was a member of the original version ofFrank Zappa's bandthe Mothers of Invention during the 1960s alongside his brotherBunk Gardner.
Born March 23, 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio, Guarnera started playing music at a very young age. He was influenced intoBig Band andjazz music. At the age of 16, Guarnera started his music career touring with Midwest and Jack Wilson. By then moved to New York City, study at Mannes School of Music. By 1951 he served in the military being based in Trieste, Italy. He played in a military band with which included flautistHerbie Mann. Along the way he shared a room withDon Preston who later played with him inFrank Zappa andThe Mothers of Invention. In 1953 Guarnera called it quits and left the military service, and moved to Paris, France. While in Paris he played withRené Thomas andAndré Hodeir, recording a couple of albums with them.[1] In 1955 Gardner moved back to New York to study at theManhattan School of Music. By 1959 he graduated fromManhattan School of Music with a BA degree in music. After graduating from Manhattan School of Music, he moved to Los Angeles and played with his brotherBunk. The brothers played in Latin and jazz groups together.
In 1962 Buzz met up with Don Preston again, playing in Don Preston's Unnamed Experimental Project. By 1968, Buzz changed his style of genre playing inavant-garde/jazz fusion music background. In November 1968 Buzz joined Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention playing the trumpet, also reuniting with his brother Bunk. Buzz only appeared in two of the Mothers of Invention's albums,Burnt Weeny Sandwich andWeasels Ripped My Flesh. In August 1969, Zappa disbanded the Mothers. Buzz and Bunk went to play with John Balkin, performing asMenage A Trois from 1969 to 1972.
The brothers appeared onTim Buckley's 1970Starsailor andDomenic Troiano's 1972 self-titled debut album. In 1980, Buzz reunited with some of the Mothers of Invention group members, with Bunk,Jimmy Carl Black,Jim Sherwood, and Don Preston. The group was called the Grandmothers. The group recorded a few albums and reunited in 2002.
Buzz died on February 1, 2004, at the age of 73. He was survived by his brother Bunk Gardner.
