Following up on the 2006 CD reissue of Joe Diorio's-"Solo Guitar" album (Art of Life AL1020-2), Art of Life Records is proud to celebrate the 40th anniversary of guitarist Joe Diorio's "Peaceful Journey" album which was originally recorded and released on Spitball Records in 1977. Now available for the first time on CD including the album cover artwork and liner notes from the original LP release. Included amongst the nine tracks on the album are four standards, "With a Song In My Heart", "Blue Bossa", "Gentle Rain" and "Body and Soul". Rounding out the album are five of Joe's original compositions: "Mystical Twilight", "Peaceful Journey", "Blues for Bela", "Nijinsky" and "Chetanananda". Joe accompanies himself via multi-tracking on the songs "With a Song In My Heart", "Blue Bossa", "Blues for Bela", "Gentle Rain", "Chetanananda" and "Body and Soul". "Mystical Twilight", "Peaceful Journey" and "Nijinsky" are solo guitar tracks. 24-bit digital remastering by Paul G. Kohler at Art of Life Studios in Charleston, South Carolina in May 2017. Art of Life Records is pleased to make this long out-of-print recording available to the world once again. Stay tuned for more Joe Diorio CD reissues from Art of Life Records.

Liner Notes:

Joe Diorio is a spirited, consummate artist who has uncompromisingly followed his artistic muse for years. In 1976, Guitar Player ran a feature article probing into his background and musical philosophy and stated: "Diorio himself has always had the compulsion to be a growing, searching and expressive Jazz improviser." His art is documented on numerous recordings with saxmen Sonny Stitt, Eddie Harris and multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, as well as with pianist Wally Cirillo and others. A few years ago he toured with Stan Getz' group and backed up Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine in a concert.

This is his fifth album on Spitball Records. The others include two "live" concerts with the late, exploratory pianist Wally Cirillo, "Rapport" and "Soloduo", and a subsequent date, "Straight Ahead to the Light", with the versatile and dynamic percussionist Steve Bagby. His "Solo Guitar" album is also a very successful and personal musical adventure. All of these waxings were greeted by favorable reviews from critics in America and abroad.

Once a part of the active Jazz scene in Chicago in the late sixties, he moved from the "windy city" to Miami where the tropical climate agreed with him. He continued to develop his musical conceptions, while playing in the groups of Ira Sullivan, an ex-Chicagoan, and through woodshedding, concertizing and recording with keyboardist Cirillo. He also instructed guitar at the University of Miami, an institution noted for its strong Jazz curriculum. In 1976, Diorio changed his base of operations to Los Angeles where he continued to practice and perform, as well as teach at Howard Roberts' Guitar Institute of Technology. In the summer of 1977 he and Bagby played strong music in concert as part of Ira Sullivan and Friends at the International Jazz Festival Laren in Holland and in Antwerp at Jazz Middelheim in what was their first European tour.

Diorio's wife Myrna perceptively remarked: "Joe's rare gift of spontaneous expression is not limited to his music; it is very much a part of his everyday life and conversation. In recent years this gift has grown and overflowed into drawing, painting and teaching and this in turn has increased his potential and sensitivity in music." She continued: "Compared to waves formed when a rock is thrown into a pond, his creative energy is like concentric circles which spread and reach out in constant movement."

Commenting about his art, Joe reflectively offered: "In music it is necessary to abide by the precedent of tradition. In an artist's formative years there is a mentor which is identified and emulated. Subsequently after years of much playing and digesting what we have learned, we begin to show signs of our own identity. We begin to emerge from our musical cocoon and blossom into strong musical voices."

He continued: "My metamorphosis began in the mid-seventies when I became restless and questioned my musical direction. By listening to many 20th century composers, my horizons were expanded. However, earlier influences such as saxophonists Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins, and trumpeter Miles Davis and countless other great musicians from the Bebop era impressed me. In addition, Ravi Shankar's Indian music opened up a new world of melodic colors for me, and the explorations of saxophonist John Coltrane, whose courage and musical boldness were changing the course of improvised music, made a firm impact on my music. All of these influences in addition to much soul searching caused me to find my direction by investigating the possibilities of wide intervallic skips, which I formed into a melodic conception of my own. All this has taken me the past twenty-seven years to accomplish. To me, music is a spiritual path of self-realization, and as one develops spiritually so does one's art. The music on this album conveys that sweetness which comes from the Universal Soul which abides in each one of us."

During the past few years, Diorio's reputation has continued to grow as a result of his inventive musical explorations experienced in clubs, concerts and on numerous recordings. He is in the major leagues as far as his performances are concerned. Jazz critic Leonard Feather stated in a Los Angeles Times review of one of Diorio's appearances at Donte's: "He is the most mature and uncompromising new plectrist to work the room since Joe Pass." His desire to play pure Jazz, and his avoidance of flirtations with Funk or Rock, has perhaps limited him in terms of a wider recognition. More importantly by playing his substantive and innovative music, he is extending the vocabulary of the modern Jazz guitar. As the public awareness of his guitar artistry grows, he will undoubtedly reach a larger audience with his music.

(Liner notes from the original LP release.)