Joe Castro - Lush Life: A Musical Journey (2015)

Pianist, bandleader and composer Joseph Armand Castro led an extraordinary life. He was a son of first generation Mexican-Americans, born in an Arizona mining town, who happened to be raised in surroundings where jazz music became his greatest inspiration, the highly trafficked Bay Area of California. As a teenager, Castro was able to learn the rudiments of the genre from attending many concerts, jamming regularly, and constant practice.

Against the odds, Castro was able to co-lead a successful combo - 3 Bees and a Queen - that played a mixture of jazz and popular tunes. It was on the group s first tour of Hawaii that Castro met and subsequently fell in love with the richest woman in the world, Doris Duke.

The legacy of Joe Castro was passed down in hours of invaluable recordings of interviews and his music, including jam sessions with some of the leading musicians of his generation and long lost, never released recordings from Clover. Sunnyside Records has collaborated with the Castro estate to have the musical recordings mastered and compiled for release on the new boxset Lush Life A Musical Journey.

The recordings provide an intriguing view of Castro s eclectic musical world and that of the musicians he befriended along the way. Listeners will hear the tremendous contributions of legendary musicians, like Stan Getz, Chico Hamilton, Teddy Edwards, Zoot Sims, Oscar Pettiford, Lucky Thompson, Leroy Vinnegar, Paul Motian and Billy Higgins.

This box set is Sunnyside s initial release of material from Joe Castro s discography. Included are six discs of diverse musical settings from different periods in Castro s life. There will be subsequent releases with more gems from his catalog to look forward to. There is also an interactive website that contains a full biography and discography, expertly researched by Daniel Richard and James Castro.

Disc 1: Joe Castro s Jam Sessions: Abstract Candy Jam sessions recorded at Duke s Falcon Lair home which feature trumpeter John Anderson, woodwind expert Buddy Collette, drummer Chico Hamilton and bassists Buddy Woodson and Bob Bertaux.

Disc 2: Joe Castro s Friends: Falcon Blues Teddy Wilson s Jam Sessions Three sessions, two from July 1955 and one from January 1956 at Falcon Lair, that feature the great Teddy Wilson on piano and feature saxophonists Stan Getz and Zoot Sims.

Disc 3: Joe Castro s Jam Sessions: Just Joe Two sessions from February 1956 provide a look at Castro s own playing with the illustrious lineup of trombonist Sonny Truitt, saxophonists Zoot Sims and Lucky Thompson, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Ron Jefferson.

Disc 4: Joe Castro: Feeling the Blues The Quartet Sessions Castro leads his tremendous working quartet of saxophonist Teddy Edwards, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Billy Higgins at Falcon Lair in January 1959.

Disc 5: Joe Castro Big Band Reflection Initially recorded for Castro s own Clover label but never released, the Joe Castro Big Band s music was the leader s most ambitious project. The Band performs pieces by Castro and friends Leroy Vinnegar and Teddy Edwards with aplomb and features some of the West Coast s most legendary musicians, including Al Porcino, Conte Candoli, Frank Rosolino, Bob Cooper and Stan Levey.

Disc 6: Teddy Edwards Tentet Angel City Another project that went unreleased on Clover sees the great saxophonist Teddy Edwards leading his own midsized ensemble of Los Angeles based greats.