PA ~ When did you take up your artistry and how long have you been involved with it?

CM ~ All my life, really. I have been involved with singing and playing saxophone since I was about 10 years old.

PA ~ Musically, how would you describe your sound/genre?

CM ~ I would say Pop Swing with a Bebop jazz and blues influence.

PA ~ What gravitated you toward your artistic work ?

CM ~ My family is musical so it's been a part of my being as long as I can remember. However, I think the venue of communication that jazz improvisation provides is what really attracts me toward my work. It's such a powerful conduit for getting what I have inside out to the listener.

PA ~ Who are your influenced by?

CM ~ For swing vocals, all of the greats that you would expect -- Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, and some others. For saxophone it's the bebop legends like Cannonball Adderly and Charlie Parker, and some of the cool players like Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. Gerry Mulligan was one of the first jazz artists I ever listened to -- he was a favorite of my father's, and I started out playing Baritone Saxophone.

PA ~ I understand you have a CD called "The First Time", what is the listener / viewer in store for?

CM ~ When I put together "The First Time", I was able to bring all of my friends -- eighteen of them -- who represent the best of the Inland Northwest, together to record a collection of my compositions and arrangements that move the "big band" concept forward from it's roots in the last century to what it is today. the listener will be convinced that if Miller or Dorsey were alive today their efforts would be something like what I've created here.

PA ~ How is the CD being received?

CM ~ Very well within my territory of the Inland Northwest and Pacific Northwest. I would like to expand that so all of the patrons of my genre can hear this contribution to the dialogue.

PA ~ Do you have a favorite composition on the CD?

CM ~ I really like the ideas I put into my arrangement of "Idaho". For original compositions, I'm probably most fond of "The Answer Is In My Heart".

PA ~ Will you be touring to promote "The First Time"?

CM ~ I have done some things within the Pacific Northwest. If enough interest is generated, I will expand that to some national touring.

PA ~ Any other projects or follow ups in the works presently?

CM ~ Spokane Jazz Orchestra will be making a Christmas CD in 2006, and I'm working on new compositions and arrangements for my next CD.

PA ~ Do you perform solo or normally with a group?

CM ~ Normally with a group but I have done a few gigs with no backup -- usually those are very intimate settings.

PA ~ Any performances coming up you'd like to plug?

CM ~ I will be with Spokane Jazz Orchestra at the Metropolitan Performing Arts Theatre doing a tribute to Basie and Ellington on March 11th, 2006

PA ~ What would someone expect attending one of your shows?

CM ~ My live performances vary depending upon the venue. I have done concerts in a classic setting, and also more pop style particularly in an outdoor venue. Small clubs usually are a classic nightclub type setting.

PA ~ Do you perform outside of your hometown?

CM ~ Yes, all over the Inland Northwest, and some dates spanning out to the Pacific Northwest.

PA ~ During your artistic journey so far, any interesting (funny, bizarre, highlight, nightmare etc...) stories come to mind you'd like to share with us?

CM ~ On one show I gave the band some cues by kicking my foot in the air and my shoe came flying off my foot and out into the audience! I'm glad it didn't hit anybody. I didn't miss a beat though and promptly kicked off the other shoe and did the rest of the show in my stocking feet. One of my recording producers has called me the Shoe-kicking guy ever since.

PA ~ Give us your thoughts on the indie music scene good and not so good.

CM ~ Thanks to the Internet it's easy to get your material out there available to the listener but the challenge is still to get them to try it. The best way to do that is still to be on the road performing live, so the struggle is to do that and also maintain your family. Being on the road is the antithesis of being a spouse and a parent.

PA ~ How is the artistic scene in Spokane evolving?

CM ~ I'm amazed at how much the jazz knowledge base has risen in Spokane in the last 15 years. There are many of us living here now that are of the national caliber -- so much that the community is creating music that rivals areas that are 5 times the population.

PA ~ What has the highlight of your career been?

CM ~ I think that my last two CDs -- this one and the latest one from Spokane Jazz Orchestra. My objective is to keep it moving that way. I'm not ready for the highlights to be at some point in the past.

PA ~ What are some goals you hope to accomplish in the future?

CM ~ I want to do another CD when the time is right -- and also to teach what I know to the young people -- including my two sons.

PA ~ What are your other interests?

CM ~ Well, that leads right into it doesn't it? I love my wife Andren and two boys Camden and Carson. They are the reason I don't tour full time. I also work in computers and software, and do some inventing. I have one invention that looks really promising -- stay tuned.

PA ~ What was the best piece of advice you ever heard that motivates you in pursuit of your artistry?

CM ~ Artists, -- ALL of them -- encounter a point in their career, usually more than once, where their artistic growth stops. At that point, they are faced with a choice. I can continue doing what I know for the next 10,20,50 years, or I can open my mind and spirit to whatever will promote continued growth. For me, the conduit for that is prayer. Then the growth may involve additional study, a new instrument, changes to your style, and so forth. It's easier to choose to ride it out on what you know -- there are many famous artists that do exactly that. However, the best artists -- not necessarily the most popular, but the best -- take the latter choice.

PA ~ Where can someone find out more about Christopher Moyer?