After leaving the army he studied with conductor and teacher of advanced harmony Roy Maling, and then introduced vocal bebop into Sydney clubs such as El Rocco, the Arabian, and the Mocambo.
In the 1950s Lane led the Dee Jays, which singer Johnny O'Keefe later took over, and managed to secure jamming sessions with visiting Americans, including members of the Lionel Hampton and Stan Kenton bands.
In the mid-1980s, he formed his own band Killer Joe, with drummer Dennis Sutherland, and later, The Jazz Cats, which had a residency at Sydney's Criterion Hotel.
[citation needed] Lane was given a feature role in Kevin Lucas's award-winning jazz film Beyond El Rocco and in the mid-1990s he released his CD album, The Arrival.
Joe Lane spent his final years in a nursing home in Sydney's inner-west, following a stroke that left him unable to speak, although he was remarkably still able to sing, which he did whenever his many musician friends visited.