Originally an alto saxophonist, the young Javon’s early interest in Jazz was stimulated by his parents who were big fans of Gene Ammons and Ahmad Jamal. He soon became enamored with the work of Sonny Stitt, but as he grew older, his discovery of Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson and John Coltrane resulted in his switch to the bigger, more muscular horn.

While at Berklee, he studied with the renowned saxophone pedagogue Joe Viola, as well as saxophonist Billy Pierce and pianist Donald Brown, both of whom had played with the legendary Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Brown was instrumental in connecting Javon with Buhaina, and after sitting in with the Messengers one night in 1987 at New York’s Mikell’s, he was invited to join the band. He remained with Blakey until the great drummer’s death in 1980, playing alongside future heavyweights like saxophonist Kenny Garrett, trumpeters Wallace Roney and Terence Blanchard and pianist Benny Green. Learning "more in one week with Blakey, than anywhere else in my career," Javon views that three plus years’ experience as profoundly impacting on his musical sensibility.

He went on to work with major artists like Nat Adderley, Richard Davis and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, and most importantly with two other legendary Jazz figures, Freddie Hubbard and the amazing Elvin Jones, who played on Javon’s first solo recording, 'Me and Mr. Jones' for Criss Cross.