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 Maestro” Ernesto Chavarria. While completing his 4 year tutelage under Chavarria, Joey found the road and stage calling him yet again. In 2001, Joey Relocated to Los Angeles to seek opportunities as a premier keyboardist and producer. Since then, his list of musical credits include working with Tierra, El Chicano, East Bay Soul, Greg Adams, Pete Escovedo, Jeffrey Osborne, Tom Scott, Sister Sledge, Walfredo Reyes Jr, Paul Brown, Abraham Laboriel, Oscar Cartaya, Brandon Fields, Bonie James, Ersi Arvizu, Leland Sklar, Vinnie Colaiuta, Ronn Moss & Peter Beckette (from the group, “Player”), Dawn Robinson (En Vogue), Jennifer Paige, DW3, Brian Bromberg, Eric Marienthal, and a long list of others.Joey got the opportunity of a lifetime to co-write the bulk of the tunes for Epitaph/ Anti recording artist, “Ersi Arvizu’s latest album entitled, “Friend for Life”. This is an autobiographical musical journey about her amazing life. It was produced by Ry Cooder. (Buena Vista Social Club). Worldwide release date was May 9th, 2008. In 2014, Joey joined forces with Grammy winning producer, Paul Brown and recorded Grover Washington’s “Strawberry Moon”, The track was released on Woodward Avenue Records, 9 Mile Road with Joey on piano, Paul Brown on guitar, The late Ricky Lawson on drums, Lenny Castro on percussion, & Roberto Vally on bass. Joey’s main goal in moving to L.A. was to create and perform music at the highest level possible. In 2010, he put his dream band together, “NAVARRO” which features Brandon Fields, Joey Heredia, Rene Camacho, Joey De Leon Jr. The group performs regularly at the World Famous Baked Potato and will be featured in the documentary, “iRide, A Musical Journey”, to be released early 2018.
