Drummer was a founding member of the L.A. Express As a musician, producer and arranger, he worked with a number of leading figures in jazz and pop music.

John Guerin, a drummer who was best known as a founding member of the L.A. Express and for his contributions to an innovative Joni Mitchell recording, has died. He was 64.

Guerin, with a broad resume in jazz and pop, died Monday of heart failure at West Hills Hospital in West Hills, Calif. He had been battling a cold that became pneumonia but continued to perform as late as Dec. 30, when he accompanied singer Steve Tyrell at the new Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood. He entered the hospital the next day.

As a musician, producer and arranger, Guerin played with a number of the leading figures in jazz and pop music in his four-decade career. In the world of jazz that list included Thelonious Monk, George Shearing, Ella Fitzgerald and Roger Kellaway. Among pop or rock figures, besides Mitchell, Guerin played with Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, The Byrds, Lou Rawls and Linda Ronstadt.

In 1975, Guerin was a founding member of the L.A. Express, a jazz fusion band composed of four studio musicians. Led by saxophonist Tom Scott, the top- flight roster also included guitarist Robben Ford and bassist Max Bennett. After hearing them play at a small jazz club in North Hollywood, Mitchell invited them into the studio when she was recording her Court and Spark album. They later went on tour with her as the opening act.

Guerin went on to collaborate with Mitchell on the title track of The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

"I'm very proud of that album," Guerin told Down Beat magazine. "It's a portrait in sound of the American dream, marriage and suburbia, in a myriad of shapes and forms. The album has touched a lot of people where the didn't want to be touched. Joni has a way of articulating self-exploration in a very heartfelt way."

Guerin was born in Hawaii but grew up in the San Diego area. He was self- taught on the drums, learning by playing along with Count Basie recordings.

By his early 20's, he was playing professionally with major names including clarinetist Buddy De Franco. He played with pianist Shearing in the mid-60's and was off and running in an eclectic career that included work on film scores, notably Clint Eastwood's biography of Charlie Parker, Bird, and the recent Diane Keaton/Jack Nicholson film, Something's Gotta Give.

Guerin is survived by his wife, Michelle Palombi Guerin, of Chatsworth Calif; a son, Scott, of Los Angeles; a sister, Victoria Shoemaker, of Oakland, Calif., and two grandchildren. Another son, Shaun, died last summer.