15th September 2021: “I don’t shy away from my feelings when I’m writing”: Chet Doxas gives us the inside track on ‘You Can’t Take It With You’, shares new video for ‘Lodestar (for Lester Young)’ and Carla Bley track ‘Old Man Dancing’

Chet Doxas‘ work as a saxophonist, composer and improviser has seen him carve out a unique path through the world of creative improvised music. From projects inspired by visual art to his group Riverdie with Steve Swallow and Dave Douglas, Doxas’ work runs the whole gamut of improvisation, from the rowdy to the graceful. His new album, You Can’t Take It With You, treads new ground though, as Doxas leads a trio for the first time, flanked by Ethan Iverson and Thomas Morgan. Together, they explore twelve of Doxas’ compositions, written over the space of a year.

For the latest Whirlwind in Focus, we spoke to Chet about the album’s key motivations ahead of its release on September 24th.

Interview by Hugh Morris (hugh@whirlwindrecordings.com)

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WWR: First up, how have you been? Are you busy?

CD: Thanks for asking… fine, I guess? Saying “good” feels weird because I know how many people are still struggling through these times but, in our lives things seems to be slowly returning to normal. Everyone in our family remained healthy throughout the pandemic and my daughters (12 and 13) are finally back at school after eighteen months. Trust me, the feeling of elation is mutual for all parties. Performing in NYC is slowly coming back to life for me but because everyone wants to play, right now it feels like a bit of a traffic jam out there. It’s all good… music is good…. and I feel grateful to perform whenever I can, and support my peers by going to their shows and purchasing their recordings.

WWR: You Can’t Take It With You is your ninth release as leader, but your first leading a trio. Why this format right now?

CD: This format is one that I’ve always wanted to learn more about. I can recall the first time I ever heard the Jimmy Giuffre trio recordings called “Fusion and Thesis”. For me, it rivals the first time I ever heard Charlie Parker. Both these musicians have a unique command of space and sound. As I get older, these two phenomena of music continue to be a constant area of interest and development in my writing, listening, practicing and improvising.

Giuffre’s music soon led me to the writing of Carla Bley. (his trio performed many of her compositions) I grew up listening to Carla’s large ensemble music and only later discovered her trio. Both Giuffre and Bley are musicians with whom I strongly identify. Although I never met the former, I have had the immense pleasure of getting to know the latter very well. I have play in the Liberation Orchestra several times and have also toured Europe with Carla and her partner, Steve in a group called Riverside with Dave Douglas and my brother, Jim. Most recently, I have been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of some of her new works for solo saxophone. Here is a link to a piece that she composed at the beginning of the pandemic for quartet and video. This piece, Old Man Dancing, can be played solo or with a group, as you will see from the addition of Carla herself, Steve Swallow and her daughter Karen Mantler. Of special note, most of the stage direction that you see me performing is written into the part. Getting to work alongside a composer with the breadth and scope of Carla is something that has changed me and I am grateful for any opportunity that I get to be in the same room as her.

As for my own trio, I feel like the format of saxophone/clarinet, piano and bass is one that I look forward to continuing to explore primarily because of the possibilities for orchestration. The range of each of these instruments is immense and Ethan and Thomas are not afraid to reach for their outer limits. I have begun composing a collection of pieces for our next recording and find myself even more excited about orchestration than before.

WWR: There’s a story behind the inspiration for this album, involving Carla Bley, Steve Swallow and an early morning airport transfer! Care to share?

CD: It was 5am in Hannover, Germany, in an airport shuttle and I was in the middle of European tour with a group called Riverside. The group featured Dave Douglas, my brother – Jim Doxas, Steve Swallow and Carla Bley. On this morning, I had the good fortune of being seated on the back bench of the van between Steve and Carla (where the cool kids sit). We were talking about their trio with Andy Sheppard and I was telling them how much that group’s music meant to me. That’s when Carla asked me “well… why don’t you start your own trio?” In the moment that it took my jet-lagged brain to process the idea, she then followed her question with something that was only whispered, as almost a secret: “one song a month…” Before I could turn to her to pry for further elaboration, the same secret was whispered in my left ear, only this time by Steve, “one song a month…” What were they talking about? How did this apply to starting my own group? What time is it, again? They were both kind enough to take the remainder of the van ride to explain. They meant that I should take an entire month to compose each piece for my new group and that after a year I would have the appropriate amount of music needed perform and ultimately record with my own trio.

WWR: It’s definitely improvised music with a smile on its face and occasionally a tongue in its cheek… is that something you consciously try to draw out in your music?

CD: I love being funny in my day to day life. I even performed some standup in NYC shortly after moving here in 2014. I love all forms of comedy and some of the people I admire are: Steve Martin, Tim and Eric, Richard Pryor, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Sedaris, Mitch Hedberg, and Norm Macdonald, to name very few. All of these comics are masters of form, timing and tone. The construction of a successful joke is very similar to the constriction of a great musical phrase. Obviously, there’s beginning-middle-end. That can be good enough for many comics, especially the older acts like Bob Hope and Rodney Dangerfield. Then along came the people who tun this formula on its head by playing with from and tone such as, Richard Pryor with his long-form confessional/gut wrenching performances, or Mitch Hedberg with with revivalist take on the classic one-liner, but with a heavy dose of the surreal. Or take Steve Martin as an example. His early act was a parody of a bad comic who didn’t know he was bad. The chord that he struck with his “bad” entertainment was so well-received that it found him playing football stadiums, ultimately pulling the plug because he felt as if he couldn’t connect with the audience anymore, because of its massive size.

All this to say, that I don’t shy away from my feelings when I’m writing. I’m grateful every time I get to write and play music and I am happy if it sounds that way to the listener.

WWR: You’ve enlisted some of the best collaborators around on this album – what’s it like to play in a trio setting with Ethan and Thomas?

CD: Their tones and willingness to be playful with me were the leading factors to approaching these two major voices. Ethan is a very expressive and dramatic player with one of the greatest piano sounds around. I appreciate that he takes the repertoire seriously but not himself. Thomas is an expert listener and responder. He is a bassist that improvises every note that he plays and I would say the same for Ethan. That is to say, sometimes bassists will rely on familiar patterns to fill out the sound. Thomas never does this, but instead holds himself to a very high standard of playing beautiful sounds in the moment. I’m grateful that they agreed to be part of this band with me…. we had a wonderful time at our gig the other night at Bar Bayeux in Brooklyn and look forward to more music together.

WWR: What’s your favourite track from the album, and why? And can you give listeners some moments to look out for?

CD: Hard to choose a favorite but for the sake of this piece, I’ll choose the title track, “You Can’t Take It With You”.

The obsession of wealth and physical appearance have reached an oft-comical boiling point in our society, whose flames are only fanned by the advent of celebrity culture and social media. This piece is meant as a riff on the cosmic giggle of attachment issues and was created to poke fun at this uniquely human struggle. Look out for the end of this piece… it does not go gentle into that good night.

This song was often worked on after dinner time while my family was strewn about the living room reading, doing homework, and catching up on mountains of paperwork (my wife is a physician). The interruptions in the writing process were always welcomed because life is full of them and I think it helped me be less precious about the work. I revel in the way that my family is part of this music and they add immense scope to my life each day.

WWR: And finally… what are you most looking forward to as the creative circuit returns post-Covid?

CD: I look forward to sharing this music with as many people as I can. I want people to experience how much fun we have playing together and hope that through these performances we can add some beauty and positivity to their lives. I also look forward to continuing to learn from music and how it helps me be a better person, and how art can help to make the world a more tolerant and beautiful space to share.

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You Can’t Take It With You by Chet Doxas Trio featuring Ethan Iverson and Thomas Morgan is available to pre-order now, on Limited Edition White Vinyl, CD & Digital Download: here. Stream the latest single, Lodestar (for Lester Young) here.

Check out more of Chet’s work on his YouTube page and website.