What People are Saying About Chandler & Co.

…playful original songs that mix mind-bending wordplay with jazz, shimmering rock, and horn-fuelled R & B. — John Donohue, New Yorker

Dixieland romps, twisted Mardi Gras marches, sweaty 60’s rock, smoky torch songs, and occasional novelties that sound somewhere between Randy Newman and They Might Be Giants, all with hilariously offbeat lyrics. The world would be a better place if Travis would only visit more often. — Sam Hurwitt, San Francisco Express

A keenly entertaining blend of the Ringling Bros. and Ra…[that] puts the harm back in Philharmonic. — Jim Macnie, Village Voice

After She Left” recalls Mose Allison working with Burt Bacharach… gentle romantic elegance… 6 stars! — Steven Rosen, Blurt

… a strange, wonderful, totally distinct ode to musical mastery and nonsense… imagine Andy Partridge of XTC and Beat poet Gregory Corso, wandering between Saturn and New Orleans to sit in with the Sun Ra Arkestra… at once simple, abstract and wondrous to behold. — Ed Bumgardner, Winston-Salem Journal

What Frank Sinatra is to New York City, what Bruce Springsteen is to New Jersey, what Elvis Presley is to Memphis, Chandler Travis is to Cape Cod. — Daniel McDermott, Provincetown Magazine

10 Best Concerts of 2011- Chandler Travis Philharmonic at The Linda (November, 2011) …not just my favorite show of the year, quite possibly my favorite concert of all time, period. A rare night of something spectacular happening on stage from uproarious virtuoso start to sublime and quiet end. — Ted Potrikus, WBCR (Great Barrington, MA)

The amazing Three-o is our favorite: they can play anything the highly unconventional nine-piece Dixieland/avant-jazz/pop Philharmonic can play, and then some. The focus is tighter, and the songwriting, which has always been at the heart of Chandler’s bands, gets center stage in a way that is not possible with the riotous pageantry of the full Philharmonic. — Sarah Craig, Caffe Lena, Director


…dazzling musicianship and fearless merry-making… explores the terrains of love and life’s absurdities with rowdiness, tenderness and a sardonic faith in humanity that never wavers… we’re witnesses and co-conspirators in something that feels magical. — Joel Patterson, Nippertown!

Most excellent show on Mayo Beach…first time I ever saw a trumpeter receive a pizza delivery onstage, eat a slice in two bites, and turn the plate into a mute before the song was over. — Sally Eckoff, civilian


Little did I realize one of the greatest nights of my life would unfold in St Joseph Michigan. No foolin’ -Friday June 15, The Chandler Travis Philharmonic dropped into a west Michigan club, Czars, and proceded to tear the roof off the dump. Sheesh, they were great. I was really uncontrollably shaking… — Paul Tracy Fredrickson, civilian

Dixieland, pop, avant-jazz, rock…and fully over the top — Jim Sullivan, Boston Globe

…like a Mexican version of the Bosstones on Caribbean holiday… — Carly Carioli, Boston Phoenix

…when you stripped away the nuttiness, the music was refreshing and strong. The nine players could not hide their competence, no matter how hard they tried. — David Singer, Schenectady Daily Gazette

It is often difficult for fans to say just what attracts them to Travis’ music. But attract them it does! As the composer of “a few hundred” songs, Travis offers a wide array of musical moods at each show, allowing every fan to enter and engage in their own way. — Matthew Robinson, DirtyWaterNews

…Jonathan Richman for adults… — Christopher Walsh, The Republic of Letters

this man should either be locked up or made king of the planet. Despite the apparent anarchy, the band (playing their “psycho-jungle-dixieland”) is incredibly tight. — Jason Dean Moriarty, the Noise

Not unlike NRBQ meets Sun Ra on the beach, doing bong hits spiked with primo acid and laughing gas. — Joe Coughlin, the Noise

…a truly original musical experience. — John Black, Offbeat Boston

Travis treads a fine line between chaos and genius. … But even when he was just making noise, it sounded like beautiful music. — David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

…[CTP's] gleeful tendency to ignore genre boundaries -not to mention the musicians’ preference for goofy costumes -evokes New Orleans. Elvis Costello-like pop songs, avant-jazz vamps, novelty pieces, and way off-beat lyrics factor into the wildly inventive mix. — Keith Spera, Times Picayune (New Orleans)

One of the best shows in recent memory. So get this latest record, Kitty, but get clued into their website and side projects, and know when the Chandler Travis Philharmonic is coming to town, because that is something you don’t want to miss, ever. — Frank Goodman, PureMusic.com

…these musicians have got serious chops, as well as a really twisted sense of humor. The Chandler Travis Philharmonic is more fun than a barrel of pancakes. — Greg Haymes, Albany Times-Union

The horn players howl, the rhythm section wobbles, and the boss pulls lions out of his hat…if you’re in favor of Vegas weddings, the Firesign Theatre, and the Bonzo Dog Band, you could have yourself a dada field day. — Jim Macnie, Providence Phoenix

He’s a true New England eccentric, a master of daft power pop, and live, he plays in his pajamas… — Rob Tannenbaum, Village Voice

What more do you need? A party hat. — David Greenberger, Harp

From the sing-along party anthem “That’s What She Said,” bare-bones and raw, to the “I’ll Simonize your parents, if you don’t Simonize them first” straight-ahead Kinks, Replacements rock vibe of “Wireless” or the lush “I’m Chandler’s Butterfly,” you know you’re going to have a good time. — David Malachowski, Albany Times-Union

[Chandler Travis Philharmonic] exist somewhere on the continuum among middle period Kinks, any-period NRBQ, maybe a pinch of Sufjan Stevens, and every Grammy winner in every category in the history of the world. — Paul Rapp, Metroland (Albany, NY)

about “After She Left”

Atypically moody and contemplative but also typically smart, funny, sad, and tuneful. — Sarah Rodman, Boston Globe

… full of downbeat ballads, but with quite astounding musical and lyric detours sewn inside familiar and engaging pop song structures, like a coyote in a pillowcase. — Mike Hochanedel, Schenectady Daily Gazette

a rare and unexpectedly sincere solo album — Richard Gehr, Village Voice

An evocative mix of sadness, longing, stubbornness, tradition, humor and kind-hearted acceptance. — Kathleen Szmit, Barnstable Patriot

Chandler Travis is creatively liberated … [After She Left] works softly over a group of plaintive musings built around the ageless and somber notions of love lost. — Sean McCarthy, Cape Cod Times

There’s a hushed intimacy and quiet restraint about “After She Left” that seeps directly into your bones… – a complete 180-degree turnaround from the exuberant antics of the Chandler Travis Philharmonic. — Greg Haymes, Nippertown

…a gently stunning meld of melancholy and chin up/feel-good sentiments… songs, chops, brains, and attitude galore. — Joe Coughlin, the Noise

about “Chandler Travis Philharmonic Blows!”

One of the things I love about this latest CD from the Cape’s quirky musician is the delightfully personal feel of having been invited to an afternoon jam session, complete with adult beverages and lots of laughter. — Kathleen Szmit, Barnstable Patriot

…pure, unadorned heart…Even if you’ve never seen the band before, the wild carousing brass, ringing electric guitar, boisterous handclaps and whoops make it clear how amazing it must be to experience the band live. — Ken Maiuri, Daily Hampshire Gazette

…The Philharmonic is like no big band you’ve ever heard. There’s R&B, jazz, some lopsided Dixieland, blues, and rock & roll. Best of all, this stuff is just hilarious! — Mark Saleski, Something Else!

Discs like this restore my love for sound and the written word. With its pickled Dixieland ebullience, wicked irreverence and demented melodic sparkle, “Blows!” is unbridled joy clasped between two covers (both of which, incidentally, are hilarious). — Cory Frye, Covallis Gazette Times (Albany, OR)

…a flat-out party…more great musical merriment from CTP. — Greg Haymes, Nippertown

Chandler Travis Three-o

The Chandler Travis Three-o, like most things in life, started by mistake, as a result of Chandler having a hard time finding rooms large enough to house his nine-piece Chandler Travis Philharmonic. In 2009 or so, a couple of small, friendly bars opened on Cape Cod (the first being the Harvest Wine Gallery in Dennis) that asked Chandler about doing something with just another person or two, which wasn’t at all the direction he’d been going in.

These offers coincided happily with the arrivals in the Philharmonic of string bassist John Clark and jack of all trades (but especially saxophonist, keyboardist, and clarinetist) Berke McKelvey. Chandler had dabbled in smaller formats before, but in Clark and McKelvey he suddenly had two extremely talented and enthusiastic players who shared his passion for detailing, arranging, and rehearsing. Both played beautifully on his recent solo album, 2009′s well received “After She Left“, which turned out to be sort of a petri dish version of the live group to come, and with the frequent addition of vocalist and longtime supporter Fred Boak, aka The Valet (for what good is a Three-o with only three people?), the Three-o was born.

At least two unexpected surprises followed: it gradually became evident that the Three-o could play just about anything the full version of the band could play, once they put in the time to adjust the arrangements, plus a few things it couldn’t; and it immediately became evident that audiences responded to the tighter focus in a delightful way, clearly picking up on the songwriting, which has always been at the heart of the matter in all of Chandler’s bands, in a way they didn’t when confronted with all the many distinctive personalities and riotous pageantry of the full CTP or the hell-bent-on-filling-the-dance-floor high energy of his other band, the Incredible Casuals. The vast simplification seemed to engage people in a disarming and unassuming way, quieter and more direct. Lo and behold: it was dug!

Music Samples

For examples of what the Chandler Travis Three-o sounds like, we recommend our digital releases:

and these “Song of the Weak” selections:
Just Because We’re Kids (excerpt)
Live at the Mews in Provincetown, MA

Photos