In the world of music, there are special people who come along and open the door to new levels, who take a genre and expose dimensions that have never before been heard. That was Thomas Chapin!
In 1995, in the New York Times, Peter Watrous wrote: “Chapin… is a virtuoso… also one of the more schooled musicians in jazz, both technically and historically, and for his set he dug into the styles of everyone from Benny Carter to the 60’s avant-gardists, screeching and howling and huffing as if this were 1964 and he was breaking the rules of jazz into pieces.”
WHY AM I MAKING THIS FILM?
Thomas was my friend and the husband of my sister Terri. When he died on Feb. 13, 1998 his obit appeared in the New York Times, and music tributes were played on NPR stations from New England to California.
Thomas's story and his remarkable but short career as a powerful musical force in the '80's & '90's has never been fully told, although he is included in the major encyclopedias of jazz. I asked people who knew him, played with him and wrote about him, "Should a film about Thomas Chapin be made?" They all emphatically said, "Yes. Absolutely." And then I said, "Tell me why." What they told me compelled me to want to create this film.
I want to tell his story before it is too late, before memories of him fade, and before an important piece of history is lost. Clearly, Thomas was totally unique, an iconoclast who followed his own musical path.It's time to tell his story.
HE WAS MOVING THE MUSIC FORWARD
This 90-minute documentary film, NIGHT BIRD SONG: THE THOMAS CHAPIN STORY, will unfold his tale. Thomas emerged in the 1980's in New York City's wild and free downtown music scene with a highly original style. He was called a virtuoso. A leading alto saxophonist of his generation with "monstrous chops," he was "full of incredible energy, pushing the needle, never letting up." Thomas was said by critics to be moving the music forward. A vanguard in the world of "free" jazz, he embraced all expressions of music. Straight out of college, he was for six years with Lionel Hampton as lead alto sax and musical director, followed by a two-year stint as saxophonist with the legendary drummer Chico Hamilton before forming his own Thomas Chapin Trio which had a long, seven year stint, playing all over the world.
Read more: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/290658030/night-bird-song-the-thomas-chapin-story
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