Joseph Armand Castro (August 15, 1927 – December 13, 2009) was an American

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, based primarily on the West Coast of the United States.

Biography

Castro was born in

Miami, Arizona Miami (Western Apache: Goshtłʼish Tú) is a town in Gila County, Arizona, United States. Miami is a classic Western copper boom-town. Miami's old downtown has been partly renovated, and the Bullion Plaza Museum features the cultural, minin ...

on August 15, 1927. Castro began playing professionally at the age of 15 in the San Francisco Bay area. After army service ended in 1947, he formed a small band. In 1956 Castro moved to New York City, where his trio appeared in jazz clubs. In 1958, he moved to Los Angeles, where he joined

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone and then ...

' quartet. Castro recorded two albums as a leader for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

: ''Mood Jazz'' in 1957 and ''Groove Funk Soul'' in 1960.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref> He often participated in informal jam sessions at the Beverly Hills estate of his partner,

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector, Horticulture, horticulturalist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealt ...

. Many of the performances were captured on tape.

Discography

As leader

* 1957 '' Mood Jazz'' – Atlantic * 1958 ''

Groove Funk Soul ''Groove Funk Soul'' was the second album led by American jazz pianist Joe Castro which was released on the Atlantic label in 1960.Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone and then ...

'' Teddy Edwards at Falcon's Lair'' – MetroJazz * 1959 Teddy Edwards Quartet '' Sunset Eyes'' – Pacific Jazz Records * 1959 June Christy ''Ballads for Night People'', '' Road Show'' – Capitol Records * 1959 Stan Kenton & His Orchestra/June Christy/The Four Freshmen ''Road Show'' – Capitol Records * 1960 Teddy Edwards Quartet '' Teddy's Ready!'' – Contemporary Records * 1960 Anita O'Day and Billy May '' Swing Rodgers and Hart'' – Verve Records * 1960 June Christy ''

Something Cool ''Something Cool'' is a studio album recorded by June Christy in 1953, 1954, and 1955, and featuring Christy singing 11 (in the original release, seven) jazz songs backed by the orchestra of Pete Rugolo, and her saxophonist husband, Bob Cooper. ...

'' (stereo version) – Capitol Records * 1960 June Christy '' The Cool School'' – Capitol Records

Compilations

* 2015 ''Joe Castro – Lush Life: A Musical Journey'' (includes jam sessions at Doris Duke's Falcon's Lair mansion and other previously unreleased recordings) –

Sunnyside Records Sunnyside Records is an American jazz record company and label established by François Zalacain in 1982 initially to release an album by pianist Harold Danko. Albums by Kirk Lightsey and Lee Konitz soon followed beginning a sequence of releases ...

Sunnyside Records
/ref>

References

External links

A musical chronology of Joe Castro 1927–1966

Interview with Teddy Edwards

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Joe 1927 births 2009 deaths American jazz pianists American male pianists Cool jazz pianists Hard bop pianists Bebop pianists People from Miami, Arizona Atlantic Records artists Musicians from Arizona 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians