Chet Doxas Trio with Ethan Iverson and Thomas Morgan

you Can’t take it with you

Live from NYC

album release Virtual tour

availabilities Sept 1-10, 2021

To celebrate the release of their debut album , “You Can’t Take It With You” (Whirlwind Recordings), The Chet Doxas Trio with Ethan Iverson and Thomas Morgan will be offering performances for exclusive streaming use to your venue and audience. These sixty-minute sets will feature Doxas’ original compositions from the group’s new record and may be broadcasted anytime after the album’s release date of September 24, 2021. The shows will be recorded and filmed at Doxas’ home recording studio in Brooklyn, NY and can also be relocated to other venues in the New York City area at the purchaser’s request and expense. Thanks to Fully Altered Media and Whirlwind Recordings, the group will be able to offer the added visibility and promotion of a three-month global publicity and marketing campaign. The virtual tour dates will be included in all email blasts and promotional marketing leading up to the album release date and shows. To learn more information, please scroll down to listen, read the press release and book the band.

1. You Can’t Take It With You:

The title is inspired by the shape of the song, a slow downward pitch towards the end motif that fights to stick around, then finally, ten seconds of silence. It’s all meant to poke a little fun at life, especially our attachment to material things and wealth. On a more technical note, I’ve always loved the way that Count Basie used key changes within a song to set the mood for the upcoming soloist. I had fun exploring this sound, so much so that I decided to keep going until I moved in a descending motion through all twelve keys. Down, down, down, we go. 

2. Lodestar (for Lester Young):

lode·star | ˈlōdˌstär |

noun

a star that is used to guide the course of a ship, especially towards the Pole Star.

This is an homage to my hero, Lester Young, and specifically to honor his rhythmic prowess. Although many people believe that “Prez” was at his finest in his early to mid career, I think that his gift of rhythm only grew stronger with age. In the last two years of his life, there were many secrets hidden in the wisdom of his playing. His phrasing and improvisations were lean and distilled down to the essence of each phrase. I look to him as a guide and teacher on how to best serve the music and the musicians around me.

3. Cheryl and George:

This song is named after my parents and is a tribute to their friendship, love and good nature. The piece is based on the chord changes and structure of Johnny Green’s, “Body and Soul.” Ethan and I play a unison melody throughout most of the written theme, while Thomas improvises. Following this theme, we improvise collectively as a group before restating the melody to conclude. Playing with the balance of these musical roles is meant to represent two souls intermingling, playing and enjoying a life filled with love and mutual respect. 

4. Part of a Memory:

The meaning of this piece lies in its imagery. I wanted the sound of the trio to convey the feeling of grasping at a disappearing thought, or more specially, the middle of a moment that your mind is trying to bookend with its genesis and conclusion. At first glance, this piece could sound like a lament, but in fact, I hear it more as one of acceptance.

5. Twelve Foot Blues:

Growing up, language and literature were always celebrated in our home. My mother was an English teacher and a voracious reader. She always encouraged me to have a book on the go, and I am grateful to her for the love of reading she continues to share with us all. This piece is dedicated to a great humorist who was often quoted around our home, Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain. “Mark Twain” (meaning "Mark number two") was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat. The piece has an easy riverboat feel to it, and I tried to imbibe the melody with the spirit of its namesake. 

6. The Last Pier:

I let the mental scene of this piece guide the music as I wrote it. The imagery in my head kept drifting towards something that resembled the ending of a black-and-white film noire, empty docks, street lamps, nefarious dealings. Ethan’s spirit, at the piano, often conjures up a feeling of playful mystery, so I wrote to his voice while pretending that he was the detective trying to solve a cold case that has been haunting him for years. 

7. Soapbox:

One night while on tour, I got into my hotel room after a gig and turned on the TV to watch the news. It was one of those segments that had four guests in different locations all talking at the same time. I decided to transcribe some of the rhythms and pitches, and strangely enough a pattern emerged. The shape of the melody mirrors this pattern, and our group improvisation gleans inspiration from this form of modern news entertainment. I “put a bow” on the song with the patriotic outro; one that could also be used for a television station’s 3 AM sign-off.

8. Up There in the Woods:

After reading guitarist Jim Hall's book, Exploring Jazz Guitar, I felt particularly inspired by his essays. He shares his feelings of wonder and gratitude about the gift of music. This resonated with me deeply, so much so that I wrote a song in case I ever got invited to his home “up there in the woods” to play with him. This song was written after his passing so the setting is fictitious, but it’s still real to me.  

9. All the Roads:

The late television host and minister, Fred Rogers, made a speech at an awards show that stuck with me. Instead of accepting the award with customary “Thank Yous,” he asked everyone in attendance to take the time to sit in silence and think about all of the people that helped them get to that moment and that place. This composition is my version of that moment. I used the opportunity of playing one note to contemplate on all the different teachers, musicians, friends and family members in my life that have supported me and helped me along my path. I also requested that Ethan and Thomas play their notes in sync with their own breathing. I invite the listener to do the same and to use this piece as a meditative moment to be grateful to those who have helped to shape you. 

10. View from a Bird 

Throughout the years, paintings have served as great sources of inspiration for my compositions. I visit museums with a blank manuscript book and compose while looking at various works. I wrote this particular piece at the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid in front of a painting by Joan Miro "Femme, oiseau, étoile.” I let myself be guided by the carefree feeling of the work….listen for the bird call in the melody, the three-note grouping of “G-A-B.”

Process: 

Most of the music that I write is composed as scores to scenes that I imagine in my head. Sometimes, it’s an old man who used to be a famous soft-shoe dancer… (I still haven’t given him a name yet), other times it could be a couple talking at their kitchen table, or a scene from a film that doesn’t exist. I sit still, usually at the piano, and set my timer for twenty-five minutes. I take five minute breaks in-between and do something away from my writing station… usually loads of laundry. The twenty-five minute work blocks are intense periods of concentration, reflection, editing, self-discovery, and witnessing. Thanks to some helpful advice from two of my mentors, Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, I took one month to compose each piece. This is a practice that I continue to explore and am constantly reminded that my eraser is as good a friend as my pencil.