About Me
Born and raised in the onion fields of Tolleson, AZ (20 miles west of Phoenix) this third generation Mexican-American cut his teeth on R&B, Jazz, Fusion, Mexican Heritage and Latin influenced pop of the late 60’s and 70’s. A few years removed from high school, Joey landed a major record deal with Island Records ~ Antilles New Direction (NY). The Album On The Rocks, was a melting pot of Funk, R&B and the fusion sounds of the mid 80’s. At 23, Joey Navarro was in on the birth of contemporary jazz.Concurrently, Joey toured with recording artists as a keyboardist and musical director. After years of honing his skills world-wide, Joey returned home to sabbatical with teacher "El Maesto" Ernesto Chavarria. While completing his 4 year tutelage under Chavarria, Joey found the road and stage calling him yet again as he hit the circuit both as a leader and side-man for the likes of Recording Artists and bands, Tierra, Caribe L.A., Deniese Williams, Peaches & Herb, Malo, (Sly, Slick, & the Wicked), The Escorts, Delfonics, Heatwave, Persuaders, Percy Sledge, Greg Adams, Tom Scott, Sister Sledge, Ersi Arvizu, Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, Ronn Moss, Dawn Robinson (En Vogue), Jennifer Page, Khani Cole, Jay Smith, Marion Meadows, Jeff Kashiwa, Nelson Rangell, Brian Bromberg, Eric Marienthal, and Richard Smith amongst others. In his six years in L.A. he has performed in the local jazz scene with his own group, NAVARRO, which has featured legendary musicians such as, Joey Heredia, Tal Bergman, Lenny Castro, Rene Camacho, Oskar Cartaya, Johnny Sandoval, Brian Allen, and Brandon Fields.In 2006, Joey created Jonavar Productions. It’s a state of the art musical production facility located in the heart of North Hollywood. Joey got the opportunity to co-write the bulk of the tunes for Epitaph/ Anti recording artist, "Ersi Arvizu’s new CD entitled, "Friend for Life". This is an autobiographical musical journey about her amazing life. It was produced by Ry Cooder. Basic tracks were cut at Jonavar Productions. Worldwide release date is May 9th, 2008.Joey also produced new recording artist, Kyle Wolverton’s new CD entitled, "Soul Groove". for Smooth Ride Records. This great CD features the talents of Abraham Laboriel, Joey Heredia, Vail Johnson, and a host of other fine musicians. Currently producing actor/ songwriter, Trevor Donovan.
