feature photo: Evan Shay
Up in Montreal, the drummer Jim Doxas struck up a musical association with bass player Adrian Vedady a decade ago and eventually they brought in ECM recording artist Marc Copland to form a piano/bass/drums trio. That trio recently became a quartet when they added a saxophonist — Jim’s brother Chet Doxas — and the Doxas Brothers band was born.
The brothers, of course, have played together for longer than this; they’ve literally played together their entire lives. Their joint musical journey took them through stints with some very esteemed names in jazz: Carla Bley, John Abercrombie, Joe Lovano, Steve Swallow, and Dave Douglas, who made them a part of his Riverside band that we caught up with a few years ago.
The Doxas Brothers are now stepping out with their own release supported by Copland and Vedady. The Circle is their shiny new debut, and we’re premiering above a video of a sensuous cut from that album entitled “Goodbye.”
Originally, that Gordon Jenkins composition was best known for being the closing theme song of the Benny Goodman orchestra and it was later covered by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. The Doxas Brothers perhaps thought it was time to bring this song to a newer audience, which I think is a good choice.
Most of the chore of revealing the timeless beauty of the melody is left to Chet Doxas and Chet delivers with a fervent performance. Copland’s accompaniment is lean, making great use of space and the Jim Doxas/Adrian Vedady rhythm section do everything to make Chet sound even better.
The Circle released worldwide on Friday, October 23rd, 2020 from Justin Time Records.
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