By Filipe Freitas
Chris Cheek, 2015 - photo by © Clara Pereira
Name: Chris Cheek
Instrument: saxophone
Style: post-bop, contemporary jazz
Album Highlights: I Wish I Knew (FSNT, 1997); Vine (FSNT, 2000); Keepers of the Eastern Door (Analog Tone Fatory, 2025).
When did you first decide to become a musician?
Playing music and having a career in music are two very different things! When I started practicing and taking lessons in middle school, for some reason, playing the saxophone resonated with me. Because of the outlets I had in summer programs and the regular school-year public band classes, I developed meaningful friendships and had a lot of fun playing with kindred souls! I guess this was my first experience of a “chosen” family outside the one I was born into. I never doubted that listening to and trying to play music was central to my life, but to be honest, trying to figure out a way to translate that fascination and wonder into making a living is something that I still struggle with daily. I’m still not sure if I’m cut out for the “career” aspect of being a performer in the traditional sense.
For your new quartet album, Keepers of the Eastern Door, you drew inspiration from a wide range of sources—Native Americans culture (especially the Mohawk people), literature (John Steinbeck’s The Pearl), and photography (Edward Curtis’ The Kutenai Duck Hunter and The Canyon de Chelly). How did these diverse art forms shape your approach to music and influence the final result?
The idea of working with pre-existing text as a way to develop melody and rhythm is an interesting prospect to me. In literature, good writing has a recognizable pace and flow to it. Because of the abstract nature of instrumental music, having the underlying structure and form that words suggest helps me work towards finding shape and clarity with musical ideas. Looking at the contrast, color and balance in these photographs by Edward Curtis inspired me to consider those elements in music. In these pictures, the stillness and vastness of the space surrounding the figures reminds me of how what’s not there helps give an identity to what is!
If I’m not mistaken, this was your first time recording with Bill Frisell and two of his regular collaborators—Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston. How did that collaboration come about? Have you guys played together before in concert?
I first met and played with Bill when Chris Potter and I subbed for Joe Lovano on one of Paul Motian’s trio gigs at the Knitting Factory years ago. Some time later, Bill asked me to play with his group at the Vanguard in New York for a week, followed by a performance at the Cheltenham jazz festival in the UK; Tony and Rudy were both on those gigs. Last year I heard Bill’s trio with Tony and Rudy at the Drake in Amherst, MA. When Jerome Sabbagh offered me the chance to record for his label, he suggested asking Bill to be a part of it. So, having just heard Bill’s band, it seemed like a unique opportunity to play with his trio that has such a long and rich history of working together.
The covers on the album span various genres - from classical (Messiaen and Purcell) and pop (The Beatles) to traditional jazz. How did you go about selecting them?
I enjoy different styles of music… when a song catches my ear, I’m often compelled to transcribe it and in doing so, find a deeper appreciation of often simple and obvious things. This feels like an important part of an ongoing learning and ‘refreshing’ process and not taking anything in music for granted. As a saxophone player, it’s an interesting challenge to try to translate vocal melodies to the instrument. And as someone who likes to improvise, I enjoy trying to turn songs that aren’t necessarily designed that way, into vehicles for improvisation. I’ve been collecting these different songs for a while now and for this recording there felt like some type of continuity based on the feeling that these pictures by Edward Curtis suggested to me.
How do you see the current state of the jazz world?
I’ve been very fortunate, in addition to playing with some amazing professional musicians, to meet many talented and inspired young students across the jazz world. There are more and more valuable educational resources available now to those who are willing to do the work to discover them. In many corners of the globe, the seeds of Jazz have sprouted and blossomed into healthy and robust scenes where not that long ago, there was little or nothing. In my experience, with the exception of some of the bigger “name” clubs, the venues where jazz musicians perform are supported and propelled by handfuls of individuals who do what they do for the love of it. Since the advent of Bebop, jazz hasn’t been a “popular” music and for the player, there’s seldom the monetary compensation for all the time and effort it takes to refine the craft. The rewards are the experience, working towards actualizing one’s unique potential and the personal, human connections that come along with the concerts. I think it will continue to be important to try to build an audience of informed listeners starting with the youngest in our society. Exposing children at an early age to the wonders of music and playing an instrument will help to elevate their curiosity and sensitivity to sound and also insure that there will continue to be listeners out there who value music that sometimes takes a little more effort to appreciate.
Can you name two people who influenced you the most as a musician?
My first and main musical influence was my father, Robert Cheek. He was a public middle school band director in Webster Groves, MO. for 37 years. I remember going to his school band concerts and being in the band room surrounded by all the different instruments and listening to his students rehearse and perform. He was a steadfast support and made sure I had lessons all throughout junior high school and high school. He also listened to and commented on all the CD’s I sent him and came to NY several times when I had chances to play at clubs like Sweet Basil and Birdland. His wise and gentle nature influenced me in ways I’m only beginning to understand. Although he only met him once, his father was a musician in the St. Louis area, so I guess it’s in our blood.
My high school band director, Don Kinnison, was another early influence. I was lucky enough to have two hours of band every day in high school; both jazz and concert band. My freshman year we had a big band, after that we only had enough students for a small combo. It was a valuable and unique experience. Monday was devoted to ear training and theory, then we would play tunes and try to improvise; Fridays were listening days and he would play records from the school’s library and eventually we could bring in records of our own. Don was also a professional keyboard player and some of the first gigs I did were with the club date band he was in playing for weddings and other functions. He was my first encounter with a “working” musician!
Can you name two people whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to?
John Scofield and Tom Harrell.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
Up til now, although it may have been the largest slice of the pie, music is just a part of my life. I continue to explore other interests like drawing, photography and gardening. I think if playing music wasn’t a possibility though, and I didn’t have my hands and fingers to protect, I would enjoy working for the parks dept. or as a landscaper of sorts. However, both my parents were public school teachers and I still hold hopes that I’ll be able to serve in more of an educational capacity as time goes on.
What projects are you currently working on?
I have a couple recordings in the can that I’m waiting to release into the wild. One is a tribute to Paul Motian and his music that I recorded in St. Louis last summer with two wonderful musicians who live there - pianist Zach Radwine and bassist Bob DeBoo. I also arranged and recorded some music for baritone saxophone and violin with my partner, Angela Shyr. This eclectic project is called “XO Planet” and should be rising on the horizon sometime later this year!
