b. Joseph Louis Diorio, 6 August 1936, Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. Following in the footsteps of an uncle, Diorio took up the guitar, studying formally in the early 50s at a local music school. He worked for a while with local bands but in the early 60s he ventured into New York City where he quickly established a reputation. He played with many bop musicians, such as Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt and Ira Sullivan. He also played in mainstream groups fronted by noted jazzmen including Conte Candoli and Stan Getz. From the 60s to the 80s he worked in various centres, including Florida, where he played on television and radio and also taught at the University of Miami. He also played in the Netherlands, France, Brazil and Australia, and recorded as a leader for the Spitball label during the 70s. Among musicians with who he has recorded are guitarists Mick Goodrick and John Pisano, Anita O'Day and Sullivan. In addition to performing and teaching, Diorio has also written text books, including the praised 21st Century Intervallic Designs, and is a painter and sculptor. Gradually, as the century ended, he was gaining a much deserved audience.

Technical virtuosity and imaginative improvisation made Joe Diorio (born: Joseph Louis Diorio) one of the busiest session jazz guitarists of the 1960s and ‘70s. Reviewing a mid-1960s 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 1960s 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 others including album-length tributes 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-1970s, 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.