"One of the city's truly special Memphis music experiences." - Bob Mehr, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Memphis' Joe Restivo - member of beloved soul band the Bo-Keys - releases 'Where's Joe?,' his debut album, on Blue Barrel Records (the non-profit label arm of Archer Records). The album crystalizes his interest in Memphis jazz music made at the intersection of jump blues, rhythm & blues, and jazz. This is swinging, fun music, jazz for hipster cocktail parties, which Restivo has been refining with his weekly residency at Lafeyette's over four years.
Restivo calls upon bassist Tim Goodwin and drummer Tom Lonardo, a Memphis rhythm section that's worked together and apart for over forty years, playing behind every major touring jazz artist. Lonardo is recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Memphis Musical Heritage Foundation and has worked with who's who, such as Mose Allison, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bo Diddley, The Charlie Wood Trio, Jim Dickinson, and Calvin Newborn. Art Edmaiston, a veteran of Gregg Allman and Bobby "Blue" Bland's bands, adds his saxophone.
With the Bo-Keys, Restivo has performed in venues and festivals all over the world including Lincoln Center, London's O2 Stadium, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, as well as shared stages with luminaries in soul, jazz and blues including Syl Johnson, Newborn, Bobby Rush, and Carla Thomas. A graduate of the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program at New School University in NYC, Restivo has also played with rising soul singer Robert Finley. He spins Memphis jazz as a DJ on his weekly radio show on WEVL.
Restivo plays a late 1940s Epiphone Zephyr Deluxe. 'Where's Joe?' was recorded at Archer Record's Music+Arts Studio in Memphis, TN to analog tape with no overdubs.
