Chet Doxas

Canadian-born saxophonist Chet Doxas has earned recognition as a skilled and exploratory improviser whose work centers on inventive post-bop and modern creative jazz. He co-leads the Riverside ensemble, an outfit inspired by Jimmy Giuffre, with trumpeter Dave Douglas, and the pair drew broad attention for the 2017 Juno Award-winning album Rich in Symbols. Doxas belongs to the Brooklyn collective LandLine and issued the 2021 recording You Can't Take It with You in the company of pianist Ethan Iverson.

He grew up in Montreal inside a household shaped by music, his father active as a professional musician, teacher, and recording engineer who urged both Doxas and his older brother, drummer Jim Doxas, toward musical pursuits from childhood. By eighteen the saxophonist was already working steady engagements with his own band as well as freelance jobs across the city. He completed undergraduate and graduate studies in music at McGill University. His first album as leader, Big Sky, appeared in 2010, followed three years later by Dive. After relocating to New York City, Doxas formed the Riverside project with Dave Douglas, drawing on their shared admiration for the music of Jimmy Giuffre. He has also appeared with Carla Bley, John Abercrombie, Rufus Wainwright, Maria Schneider, and Oliver Jones.

In 2017 Doxas released the self-titled debut from his band Rich in Symbols, an album whose compositions reflect his interest in visual art and which received a Juno Award nomination for Best Jazz Solo Album. He remains a member of the Brooklyn-based LandLine alongside pianist Jacob Sacks, bassist Zack Lober, and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza. The 2021 trio date You Can't Take It with You featured former Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson and bassist Thomas Morgan.