Amadio was a prominent figure in the late 1940s and early 1950s at the House of Hambourg in Toronto and subsequently became one of the city's leading accompanists and one of the most sought-after players in Toronto. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked at the main jazz venues in Toronto; The Towne Tavern, The Colonial, Bourbon Street, George's Spaghetti House from 1959-1963 and the First Floor Club with Don "D.T." Thompson's Be-Bop quintet. After working in the early 1950s in the lounge groups of Jim Younger, Chicho Valle, and Jimmy Amaro, he led the house band at the Old Towne Tavern for a nine-year stint during the 1950s and early 1960s. Word traveled to the U.S. about Amadio's playing and many American jazz superstars began to flock to Toronto. Among the American jazz greats who came to work with Norm Amadio's Trio in Toronto were Roy Eldridge, Stan Getz, Bill Harris, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Chet Baker, Anita O'Day, Bud Johnson, Lee Konitz, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, Howard McGee, Jimmy Witherspoon, Max Roach, Miles Davis, Carmen McRae, Joe Williams, Carol Sloane, Mel Torme, Dinah Washington, Red Mitchell, Phil Phillips, Maxine Sullivan, and Irene Krall.
