Joe was born Jose Diaz in Australia of Spanish parents, but embraced the usual musical background of a typical Aussie kid: the pop/rock scene. He formed teenage garage bands with friends, joined the school choir and in his 20s pursued musical education in the form of the fundamentals course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. It was here that he encountered jazz for the first time. It was a revelation! He embarked on a path of jazz education, developed a jazz repertoire and expanded his vocal technique.

JOE DIAZ : COLOURS OF JAZZ

"You could say that I've been working towards this cd from the moment I heard the great American jazz singer Mark Murphy. He bowled me over and I decided that no matter what it took, or how long, that was the path I would follow. The great musicians of the Bop and post Bop period were a major influence and set me on an adventurous journey.

In the few short years that I have been on this journey there have been people who have been my major guides and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.

Tony Graf taught me 'fundamentals' at the Sydney Con. and started me on a repertoire of the classic jazz standards, songs that are necessary to any aspiring jazz singer. He loaned me my first Mark Murphy record. I always knew I could sing, but until I started studying with Paula Langlands I didn't know how much I didn't know. Paula developed my technique and feel for the jazz idiom, opened my ears and showed me how to get truly inside the lyric of a song.

Around this time I also gained some performance opportunities with the Freddy Wilson workshops.

To develop my improvisational skills I turned to Judy Bailey. Who else! She gave me a new way to think about improvisation. It's a learning curve that's ongoing.

Recording in the studio was a happy experience. I thank the musicians for their zany humour and their amazing musicianship. Judy's arrangements speak for themselves. I'm grateful for Allan's engineering skills and great ears". JOE DIAZ

"Joe has worked tirelessly to reach this point in his development and the quality of this cd is testimony to his work. He has selected the cream of jazz talent to join him in this his debut cd and Judy Bailey's arranging is the icing on the cake (no it's not the Mad Hatter's tea party).

The titles are a great mix of standard, latin and bop tunes. Note the rarely heard 'Joyspring' (phew! How can a singer possibly fit all those words in?) and the vocalese on 'Parker's Mood'. No matter what your preference you can't miss the swing and overall good jazz vibe of this music". PAULA LANGLANDS