Technical virtuosity and imaginative improvisation
made Joe Diorio (born: Joseph Louis Diorio) one of the busiest
jazz session guitarists of the '60s and '70s. Reviewing a mid-'60s
performance, influential jazz critic Leonard Feather wrote that
Diorio was "one of the most mature and uncompromising (new)
plectrists to work the room since Joe Pass."
Waterbury, Connecticut-born Diorio spent much of the early
'60s in Chicago, playing with such stellar jazz musicians as
saxophonist Sonny Stitt and trombone player Bennie Green. He
made his recording debut on tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris'
1961 album, Exodus to Jazz.
Together with trumpet and saxophone player Ira Sullivan, Diorio
relocated to Miami, Florida, where he quickly found a place
in the city's thriving jazz scene. In addition to playing with
top-notch musicians including Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, and
Stanley Turrentine, he led his own trio, featuring Bob Magnusson
and Jim Plank.
Since releasing his debut solo album, Solo Guitar, in 1975,
Diorio has gone on to record more than a dozen impressive platters,
including tribute albums to Wes Montgomery and Antonio Carlos
Jobim.
Starting with a jazz improvisation class that he taught at
the University of Miami, Diorio increasingly turned his focus
to teaching. Since relocating to Los Angeles in the late '70s,
he has taught in the studio/jazz guitar department of the University
of Southern California and the GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology).
He has written several instructional books including Fusion
and Intervallic Designs.
|
