(post bop, guitar jazz) [CD] Joe Diorio - Bonita (1980) - 2006, FLAC (tracks), lossless

Craig Harris --
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."
Exodus to Jazz 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.
Solo Guitar 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.

Review by Scott Yanow --
The talented guitarist Joe Diorio has mostly recorded for obscure record companies throughout his career including this set for the completely forgotten Zdenek label. The early-'80s LP features Diorio (who has always had his own sound) in a trio/quartet with other Los Angeles-based musicians: keyboardist Carl Schroeder, bassist Bob Magnusson and drummer Jim Plank. Diorio stretches out on five standards (including Jobim's "Bonita") plus one of his originals, playing some fine post-bop guitar that is often strikingly original.

Joe Diorio - electric 6- & 12-string guitar
Bob Magnusson - bass
Jim Plank - drums
Carl Schroeder - piano & fender rhodes piano
Recorded at Spectrum Studios, Venice Beach, California on January 1980