Born in Arizona and raised in northern California, Joe Castro was an American jazz musician who gained fame in Los Angeles in the late 1950s playing with saxophonist Teddy Edwards, drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Leroy Vinnegar. He made records with the Teddy Edwards Quartet and released two recordings as band leader, 'Mood Jazz' (1956) and 'Groove Funk Soul' (1958). During a brief marriage to heiress Doris Duke, he helped form Clover Records which released his third album 'Lush Life' in 1960. He accompanied singers Anita O'Day, June Christy and Tony Martin in the early 1960s and moved to Las Vegas where he played in aggregations with drummer Chico Hamilton, bassists Red Mitchell and Ed Shonk and guitarist Howard Roberts. After some time in Hawaii, he returned to Las Vegas and led the band at the Tropicana Hotel's Folies Bergere. He died in Las Vegas in 2009 aged 82.
