Memphis guitarist Joe Restivo came up in the 1990s, a transitional period in Memphis music when the blues, jazz, and rhythm & blues masters could still be found on Beale Street and elsewhere in Memphis. Restivo, a member of the beloved soul band the Bo-Keys, began playing clubs at that point with a dangerous bebop element with blues and rock ‘n’ roll mixed in, swinging, fun music, jazz for hipster cocktail parties.

Restivo’s solo debut, Where’s Joe? (Blue Barrel Records) originated in that a hybrid space, the nexus of Memphis jazz jump blues, rhythm & blues, and jazz, mostly driven by original compositions.

Restivo told Elmore, “The title track, ‘Where’s Joe,’ is an homage to postwar blues/bop/R&B guitarists such Bill Jennings, Billy Butler, Tiny Grimes and Memphis’ own Calvin Newborn—under- heralded players, in my opinion, who crossed ‘genres’ and laid the groundwork for rock and roll and soul music. Where does jazz begin and rock and roll or R&B end? Or vice-versa. Maybe these distinctions were more a byproduct of an industry trying to develop these genre classifications and looking for the next big trend and less a conscious intent by the artists—or at least these ‘side men’— to develop a completely separate dance style. The lines aren’t as clean as one would be lead to believe. Either way all of these guitarists’ sound growled more like T-Bone Walker or a young BB King but with an uptown sophistication as opposed to the now-taken-for-granted mellow tone of later jazz guitarists!

“I grew up watching guitarist Calvin Newborn, whose early years involved him playing with Sun Studio artists like Jackie Brenston of “Rocket 88” fame, giving lessons to Howling Wolf and then moving to NYC and working with Sun Ra and Charles Mingus. Tiny Grimes played on seminal jazz sessions like the Charlie Parker Savoy records that yielded ‘Tiny’s Tempo,’ which is featured on my record. Tiny also though played The Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland, often called the first Rock and Roll concert. Billy Butler played the unforgettable solo on Bill Doggett’s ‘Honky Tonk,’ a massive hit that crossed over and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Billy Butler also played with a Who’s Who of jazz luminaries like Dizzy Gillespie, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt. Bill Jennings played on Little Willie John’s R&B hit ‘Fever’ as well as with hugely influential R&B artist Louis Jordan and jazz stars like Jack McDuff and Leo Parker.”

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.

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