Remembering Thomas Chapin 1957-1998

[charles t]

http://thomaschapin.com/

(Link is an up-to-date listing of the performers at that special Thomas event.)

$200 and up tax-deductible donations for the 8-CD boxed set Alive, along with a website acknowledgement listing you as an Akasha patron.

Of which is in my Chapin collection - picked up at Knitting Factory's (brief) Hollywood Blvd. location.



the link is to a winery with a 404 message [aka CdJ]

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/remembering-thomas-chapin

[Ian Thumwood]

Thomas Chapin was one of the musicians who I didn't really pick up upon in the 1990's even though I recall his music always getting the thumbs up on "Impressions" twenty years ago. I may even have seen him play because he was in the sax section of one of the last lionel Hampton big bands to tour the uk and I caught them in Poole.

The strange thing about the Chapin trio is that the ideas come so thick and fast that you don't miss the loss of a harmony instrument. Click on any of the youtube clips and the music is spell-binding. It is amazing that this music succeeds in being edgy whilst also hugely infectious. It is small wonder that this trio managed to pull in huge crowds for their gigs and that it is a griuo that is spoken of with such affection. Wish I had paid more attention at the time.

[Jazzrook]

Ian

I recently heard Thomas Chapin's 1996 trio album 'Sky Piece'(KNITTING FACTORY KFR-208) which impressed me as much as Nicole Mitchell's 'Awakening'.
Some wonderful alto & flute playing from Chapin and a great introduction to his music. One of the finest modern jazz albums of the 1990s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd9AY8T75oE

Cheers

Jazzrook

[Ian Thumwood]

Jazzrook

Snapped it up!

I'd seen this on Amazon and it seemed really tempting. I wish I'd paid more attention to Chapin when he was alive and didn't really appreciate how good he was until I saw the trailer for the documentary film that is in the throes of being made.


Jazz documentaries always seem to be in the pipeline and then disappear. There was supposed to be one about Billy Bang where he returned to Vietnam but it has never materialised on DVD and I suppose the only other hope is maybe BBC 4.
Thanks for the heads up, once more!!

Cheers

Ian

[Ian Thumwood]

Jazzrook

"Sky Piece" is an absolutely terrific album and I totally echo your comments. I've been playing this again and again in my car and have been staggered that a trio could be so compelling. This group enjoyed a cult following and the live performances are said to have been extremely memorable.

For anyone not familiar with this trio I would describe it as been a mixture of Roland Kirk and Ornette Coleman. The compositions are extremely memorable but the most impressive thing about this disc is that Chapin seems to be incapable of playing a phrase that does not swing. He is easily one of the hardest swinging jazz musicians I am aware of and this fact masks how often he is actually pushing the boundaries. The bass and drums behind him also seem to add a lot to the character of the group and whilst they do not feature very often as soloists, the are a big element of making this music really accessible.

Jazzrook has suggested on his Amazon review that this is avant garde yet I feel this music is easily capable of appealing to anyone who might have been put off by the associations with the New York Downtown scene out of which Chapin materialised after his employment as MD with Lionel Hampton's big band. Listening to this recording, it did make me wonder how much Hampton influenced his approach to jazz as Chapin's own work , whilst totally different, shares the quality of often being performed at high energy and with an ability to be extremely accessible.

Love this tune:-

[charles t]

Viewing the Youtube coverage of Thomas struttin' & hoppin' fronting the Lionel Hampton band is a definite throwback to the long-ago days of the honkers...

Can never forget tenor Illinois Jacquet spinning & gyrating while spread-eagle on the floor, honking-away with the Billy May band.

Also watching Jazz At The Philharmonic jazzr's jump out of their seats upon hearing the first notes of Flip Phillips' Perdido!

Of course the patron saint for all this hi-intensity (what is now euphemistically called 'burning') was Arnett Cobb.