The jazz community in Honolulu was small but very active.

Castro: There was a club next to Moana [Hotel] called the Orchid Room^[•] which featured jazz and we met the two local jazz beboppers; Al Baang who played alto and there was bass player Marcelo Aspera, he was Filipino or Hawaiian. They were delightful. There was also a singer, Edna Alexander, whom I knew for many years. A very good singer. We’d go over and jam and things like that. That’s how we got to know them....

When they weren’t performing, the group would meet at Kau Kau Korner. Dave Brubeck and Cal Tjader were playing at the nearby Zebra Lounge. Brubeck had relocated from California to Hawaii for this gig for some time. Castro even subbed for him as Brubeck had hurt his neck while diving into the ocean, an incident Castro recalled as it was a serious injury to Brubeck which ailed him for some time.^[•]

So Castro stayed on in Hawaii. He lived at the Moana Hotel and was picked up daily to visit Shangri-La.

During the summer, the two went to Los Angeles for a change of scenery, staying at Duke’s usual Los Angeles retreat, the Bel Air Hotel.

Though 3 Bees and a Queen were essentially broken up at this point, the group had to travel to Pasco, Washington to make up one of the engagements that had been cancelled due to Castro’s stay in Hawaii, while Duke went to Damascus.

Duke sent a telegram to Castro on his 24th birthday to insure that he would remain in Los Angeles to teach while she would continue to pay the band in lieu of performances. Meanwhile, Ford stayed with Castro at the Sunset Colonial Hotel on the Sunset Strip.

While in Los Angeles, Castro and crew continued to look for gigs and hired another Pittsburg native, Maurice Duke, as their agent. Though the agent referred to the group as the “world’s greatest audition band,” and though, as Castro recalls: “When we got the gig we became disinterested,” Maurice Duke did manage to get them a job at Billy Gray’s Band Box^[•] on Fairfax Avenue, under a new guise:

Joe Castro Players (three lads and a gal), possess plenty of spark. Foursome sings and mugs to sock over solid entertainment. Treasure Ford supplies the sex appeal and sings a cute tune especially Captain Kidd.^[•]

It’s during that period that the first likely mention of a relationship between Castro and Duke was leaked by gossip columnist James Copp:

Doris Duke...seated in a deep armchair in the reception hall [at the Hyatt von Dehn’s house], listening, enraptured, to the piano playing of young Joe Castro (who opens at the Band Box a week from tomorrow)....^[•]

Castro got to know former Duke Ellington vocalist Herb Jeffries, who charmed Doris Duke with dinner conversations about yogi, a current quasi-religious-health craze at the time. Castro would gig with Jeffries at the Showboat^[•] in Oakland on February.^[•]

The group was based at the Sunset Colonial Hotel in February 1952 when Duke asked Castro to fly back to Honolulu. He accepted and flew first class to Honolulu. Upon arriving, Castro was taken directly to Shangri La, where he stayed.

Castro: So off to Hawaii I go. By this time, she would call me “The Child of the Gods.” She called (ex-husband Porfirio) Rubirosa, “Rube” and I was “Johnny's Mexican Magic.” Most people called her “Dorshka.” The Hawaiians called her “Lahi Lahi.”

Upon his return to Los Angeles, Castro and the band auditioned for a job at the London Palladium^[•] through the Lew & Leslie Grade Agency, which was procured by their friend René DeKnight of the The Delta Rhythm Boys. They were given a choice of flying to England in April, May or August. They chose to perform in April,^[•] shoring up what would be their international première.

The ensemble, including Castro, Ford, Chavez and the returning Tom Brocato, stopped in Somerville, New Jersey before heading to England. They stayed at Duke Farms where Doris set up a couple of jam sessions that included friends Jeffries, Pearl Bailey and Tony Martinez in mid-April.^[•]

They arrived in London on April 20th and their first night at the Palladium was on the 21st. The group, under the guise of the Castro Quartet, played the Palladium for two weeks, opening for vocalist Sophie Tucker.

Joe wrote to Doris:

Opening night was a panic! We were all tired and nervous. They intentionally throw a scare into everyone that works here. They cut our ballad out, I found out later that Sophie doesn’t let any girls sing on slow songs on her shows…. There are a few good acts on the show. The comedian we saw with Josephine Baker is on the show and he gave us some of the inside dope on the “bullshit” that goes on; he was here in the last show. The band is very good, but not the best, I’ve played with better…. We got second billing on the show, which entitled us to the silver plaque with our name on it which is supposed to be “the” honor. Sophie got one and so did Pat [Henning]…it is their version of the Hollywood Oscar. We’re learning so much on every show. The experience we are getting is incredible…. When we get back we’ll have to concentrate on making some records….^[•]

While at the Palladium, Castro was approached by a wealthy fan he knew from Washington State. The fan suggested the ensemble stay an additional two weeks and perform at his residence in Ipswich some 80 miles from London for the same pay they were receiving from the Palladium. The musicians changed their tickets and remained in England until May 26th when they flew to Paris for three days, which upset Duke as she had wanted to take Castro around and show him the city.

Having returned to the States by June, the band performed at Ridgecrest, California.

Castro: They got us a job at Ridgecrest, some stupid forsaken town out there with the sand, lousy place to live and even with the coffee shop sign “Direct from the London Palladium.” I couldn’t believe it, dumb blonde behind the bar, it was a rough place, it was stupid but we were already committed, so we did it, Doris used to come out on the day off....

It was during that period that Doris, according to Stephanie Mansfield in her biography of Duke, “went public” with Castro:

…Doris finally went public with Joey Castro, bringing him to a lavish party she threw at Cobina’s [Wright]…. Castro recalled the night: “Doris had all these drummers from Haiti, they all spoke French. She took this whole troupe and had a party on the lawn with all these torches. I'll never forget it. They all danced up and down. Doris had my little group playing there in case someone saw us and liked us, we'd get a break. Charlie Chaplin, Keenan Wynn, Robert Ryan, and Gilbert Roland were there. They used to call him ‘Amigo.'”^[•]