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Diorio (Joe) papers
1020
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Music Library
Title: Joe Diorio papers
Creator:
Diorio, Joe (Joseph Louis), 1936-2022
Identifier/Call Number: 1020
Identifier/Call Number: /repositories/8/resources/3451
Physical Description:
31.48 Linear Feet
29 boxes and 1 oversize tube
Date (inclusive): 1965-2021
Language of Material:
English
.
The following text was copied from a news post on the USC Thornton School of Music's website titled "USC Thornton remembers
jazz guitarist and former studio guitar faculty member Joe Diorio" (published February 9, 2022, accessed February 28, 2024).
Jazz guitarist and former USC Thornton Studio Guitar program faculty member Joe Diorio passed away at the age of 85 on Feb.
2. During his career, Diorio established himself as a fixture of the American jazz scene, playing with Sonny Stitt, Hal Crook,
Anita O'Day, Jaco Pastorius and Freddie Hubbard, among others.
Diorio was inspired by his uncle to start playing guitar when he was 15, and he began formal studies of the instrument in
his native Connecticut in the 1950s. After playing in a few local bands, he moved to Chicago and immersed himself in the city's
jazz scene, where he played with artists like Eddie Harris and Bennie Green. The late 1960s saw Diorio move to Miami to join
Ira Sullivan's quartet. In the late 1970s, Diorio moved to Los Angeles and became one of the first instructors at the Guitar
Institute of Technology. He began teaching at the USC Thornton School of Music in 1984 and continued to work with students
until 2007.
Over the course of his career, Diorio recorded 19 albums and wrote 14 instructional books including
Intervallic Designs for Jazz Guitar: Ultramodern Sounds for Improvising and
Giant Steps.
The Joe Diorio papers comprise material created and collected by Joseph Louis Diorio (August 6, 1936 - February 2, 2022),
American jazz guitarist and former USC Thornton Studio Guitar program faculty member. The largest part of the collection consists
of music composition notebooks with Diorio's handwritten compositions. Some of the compositions in the collection were created
by or for Diorio's students as part of Diorio's teaching activities. The Joe Diorio papers also include photographs; event
programs; fliers; correspondence; concert posters; video and sound recordings of Diorio's live shows and studio recordings
-- including commercially produced albums on CDs and vinyl phonograph records; music contracts; teaching materials; unpublished
writing drafts of chapters for a publication; and visual artworks created by Diorio, including paintings, charcoal drawings,
and sketchbooks.
Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Music Library at music@usc.edu.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Music Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Diorio family via the USC Thornton School of Music, December 18, 2023.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Joe Diorio papers, Collection no. 1020, Music Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern
California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Composition (Music) -- Archival resources
Guitar teachers -- United States -- Archival resources
Guitarists -- United States -- Archival resources
Jazz -- United States -- Archival resources
Jazz musicians -- United States -- Archival resources
Musicians -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Audiotapes
Charcoal drawings
Compact discs
Correspondence
Drawings (visual works)
Fliers (printed matter)
Musical compositions
Notebooks
Phonograph records
Photographs
Posters
Press releases
Programs (documents)
Sound recordings
Video recordings (physical artifacts)
Watercolors (paintings)
Diorio, Joe (Joseph Louis), 1936-2022 -- Archives
USC Thornton School of Music -- Archives