For those unaware, as European settlers moved westward from the Atlantic coast of North America, the Mohawk people – the easternmost tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy – became known as “Keepers of the Eastern Door” for their role as guardians against invasion from the encroaching colonizers.

The outcome of that battle may seem inevitable from the historical perspective, but the tension at its heart, between those who respect and live in harmony with the land and those who view the Earth from a more rapacious perspective, persists.

In “The Kutenai Duck Hunter,” the image by photographer and ethnologist Edward Curtis that graces the cover of his breathtaking new album, Keepers of the Eastern Door, acclaimed saxophonist and composer Chris Cheek sees those two parallel mindsets represented in the reflection of a canoe in the river as its occupant looks to the horizon – and an uncertain future.

These ideas lend richness and depth to Cheek’s stunning music throughout Keepers of the Eastern Door, out May 23rd, 2025 via Analog Tone Factory. The album features a remarkable all-star quartet, with Cheek joined by revered guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Tony Scherr, and drummer Rudy Royston for a wide-ranging but harmonious repertoire including captivating originals and covers by everyone from The Beatles to Henry Purcell, Olivier Messiaen to Henry Mancini.

1. Kino’s Canoe (Chris Cheek) (3:34)
2. Smoke Rings (Ned Washington & H. Eugene Gifford) (4:30)
3. O Sacrum Convivium! (Olivier Messiaen) (6:49)
4. On A Clear Day (Burton Lane & Alan Jay Lerner) (4:14)
5. Lost Is My Quiet (Henry Purcell) (7:21)
6. From Me To You (John Lennon & Paul McCartney) (5:05)
7. Keepers Of The Eastern Door (Chris Cheek) (4:45)
8. Go On, Dear (Chris Cheek) (5:18)

This magnificently structured, heartfelt and impassioned new recording opens on the perkily playful Kino’s Canoe and then brings us the languishing beauty of Smoke Rings, the emotive O Sacrum Convivium! and the confidently-sculpted On A Clear Day.

Along next on this truly wonderful new album is a gentle hipsway that flows within Lost Is My Quiet which is in turn backed by the lush gossamer of the Beatles’ From Me To You, the set rounding out on the organically-hued title cut Keepers Of The Eastern Door, closing on the low slung balladry of Go On, Dear.

The idea for Keepers of the Eastern Door was born when Cheek was fascinated by another Curtis photograph, featuring a line of Native Americans on horseback dwarfed by the rock formations of Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly, at the St. Louis Art Museum. Cheek had grown up in the city, enjoying nature with his family.

He realized that the same year that the sepia-tinged photo had been taken, the building in which he was viewing it had been built for the 1904 World’s Fair, aka the Louisiana Purchase Exposition – a celebration of the massive land acquisition that doubled the size of the United States.

“Having spent a lot of time in the outdoors growing up and then having lived in Boston and New York for many years, I found a schism between the natural world and the highly industrialized society that we live in,” Cheek says. “I started thinking about Keepers of the Eastern Door as a metaphor for people that try to preserve a way of life based on traditional values that are less materialistic and more respectful of our surroundings.”

www.ChrisCheek.net