I would like to introduce a new column featuring one 'hot' jazz guitarist each week. There are a host of great and under recognized jazz players now with their own websites that are currently gigging out and recording CDs. Some of these guys are monster players. This column will tell a little bit about each one and then the reader can follow the link to the featured guitarist's homepage to check out the website, discography, and download audio clips.

This weeks featured player is Joe Diorio:

"With over 30 years experience as a performer and recording artist, Joe Diorio has worked with such Jazz luminaries as Sonny Stitt, Eddie Harris, Ira Sullivan, Stan Getz, Horace Silver, and Freddie Hubbard. Joe tours Europe, Brazil, Canada and the United States regularly promoting his dedication to pure and avant-garde jazz."

This blurb off of his website tells you who Joe is and what he does, however it doesn't begin to tell the real story -- the extraordinary command that he has on the guitar. Here a man that plays with total ease and elegance -- his phrasing is phenomenal and his technique is prodigious.

I went down to visit him last month at Spazios on Ventura Blvd. here in Los Angeles. He was doing the "Guitar Night" with fellow guitarist John Pisano and Bassist Dave Carpenter. He was amazing to watch. His playing is extremely fluid and he seems to almost go into a trace when he plays. John Pisano is a good player also, and complimented Joe nicely. Dave Carpenter is a demon on the bass.

In my estimation, Joe is one of the world finest jazz players, (in the style of his late friend Joe Pass) and in addition, he is also a master teacher with a number of free lessons on his website. He does this through the Diorio University On-line, which he says is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and insights into creative jazz guitar.

Joe has a number of sound and video clips on his website, along with albums and lesson books for sale.

Joe's website is at http://www.joediorio.com

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Doc Dosco is a jazz guitarist, composer and audio consultant living in Los Angeles, CA. His website is located at http://www.docdosco.com, where you can find more information on the 'What's Hot with Jazz Guitar' columns, audio clips of Doc's playing, and many additional features.

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Doc Dosco -- a short bio

Doc moved to LA from Canada in the mid 1970s. Soon after he began playing gigs and doing studio work. With long time friend and producer Esmond Edwards, (George Benson, Kenny Burrell, B.B. King) Doc has played on recordings with jazz greats such as Blue Mitchell, Eddie Harris and Red Halloway. Also, Doc was leader of The Blind Pig Jazz Band (written up in Downbeat) and featuring many of the top jazz musicians from the L.A. music scene.

"I did tons of 'guitar for hire' studio dates back then", says Doc, "and I gigged a lot during the mid seventies and eighties. I was a funky jazz style player and there was lots of funk style work. I also did pick-up work, casuals, society gigs and played numerous concerts with old timers such as Little Anthony, the Drifters, the Diamonds and such. Towards the late eighties, I started drifting away from guitar playing and into electronic music, record production and audio consultation. This in turn, led to some pretty bleak years as far as playing went."

"My last gigs during the eighties were a string of really charming albums with Ian Whitcomb in the ragtime vein, and some live gigs with legendary Jazz Pianist Joe Albany. Joe, who was Charlie Parker's piano player for a number of years, was a beautiful player, but a tragic human being. He passed on in 1988. I feel a bit like Joe in some respects, as our life paths ran parallel in some respects -- we both had some 'lost years'. However, Lazurus returns, and I'm back..."

Doc dusted off his guitar just before Christmas of 2000 after a lay-off of many years. He is currently playing solo jazz guitar and has a straight ahead jazz trio. Some new recording projects are currently in the planning stages with producer Esmond Edwards and another longtime friend and recording engineer/producer, EJ Emmons. This new venture can be found at Astral Jazz: http://www.astraljazz.com/

Doc Dosco
http://www.docdosco.com