View or Listen

"Night Bird Song," Video of Trio at Newport Jazz Festival, 1995

“Radius” from Radius CD (MU Records)

"Circles" from Spirits Rebellious LP (Alacra Records)

"Ticket to Ride," Trio at Tondela Jazz Festival, Portugal, 1995.

 

Thomas Chapin’s tune WHO (composed 1997) recorded A.D. for first time in 2019 by guitarist-composer Saul Rubin and feat. Josh Evans, Frank Lacy, Stacy Dillard & Brandon Lewis · Zeb's House

 

Stay on this page to listen to entire tune.

Eyevin Nonet - Thomas Chapin III: Unearthed

Listen to this tribute to Thomas Chapin’s music by Eyevin Apocalypse 8 + 1. Under the direction of drummer Ivan Bamford, the ensemble plays three compositions never recorded until now, entrusted to these musicians by Thomas's wife, the late Terri Castillo-Chapin.
The CD was released on March 12, 2021.

Click here to visit their site

Montreal Players' CD Homage to Thomas' Trio Music

Listen to this first CD of Thomas Chapin music by
the new owner of Thomas’ alto sax, Aurelien Tomasi, and their Trio group, drummer-leader, Eyevin Bamford, and bassist Stephane  Djamantakiou, thus Eyevin Trio, of various Thomas' Trio music. It was released in early 2018.

Click here to visit their site

 
 

 ZASIS

Thomas' high school improvisational group, Zasis, (1980)

Improvisation Group from '70s-early 80s. This piece evolves slowly passing around a couple of short motifs.

Thomas Chapin, Rob Kaplan, Bill Sloat, Thad Wheeler-Zasis Improvisatory Ensemble April 1980.
Thomas Chapin, Rob Kaplan, Bill Sloat, with Geoffrey Gordon-Zasis Improvisatory Ensemble, Sept. 20, 1992 @ the Knitting Factory.
Performance: Knitting Factory, September 1992. Thomas Chapin, Rob Kaplan, Bill Sloat, Geoffrey Gordon

"Oh No" by the Zasis Improvisatory Ensemble from 1978

In an 1977 interview in the Hartford Advocate, Chapin said: “It is a total concept in music…I involve all of myself. I become an actor, a poet, a storyteller. Our music tells stories, paints pictures. It creates new worlds. You become a leader and a follower. It isn’t jazz, or classical, or rock or any other label... If anything has given me spiritual enlightenment, or direction in music or (helped) my musical awareness, Zasis has been my source.”

To view more music and short films about Thomas Chapin

click here

 
“I always try to remember and remind all of us that the music exists because we love it, not because there’s any commercial basis for it… It needs everything we can give it.”
— Thomas Chapin
 

CD Reviews

Click on the albums covers above to read the reviews, or right here…

Performance Reviews

The magic of Thomas Chapin playing was often to be found in his kinetic live performances, visit our trove of reviews.

Sheet Music

A resource for musicians wishing to study and play Thomas Chapin’s music, an archive of leadsheets and scores are available for you to help in keeping the musical legacy alive.

tc-two-disc-dvd.jpg

Night Bird Song

Feature length documentary by filmmaker Stephanie Castillo.

The film’s title, NIGHT BIRD SONG, is from a Thomas Chapin Trio signature tune inspired by the striking melodic turns of a bird’s song that Chapin heard while on a midnight walk. The title evokes the arc in his music career that reveals he was solidly rooted in tradition yet straining its boundaries at every turn.  Jazz critic Larry Blumenfeld said "the arc corresponded less to common categories of 'downtown,' 'mainstream' and more to the flight paths of birds Chapin seemed to favor in song titles. With grace and individuality, Chapin took us to places—lofty and striking and sometimes dangerous—that forced a change of perspective."  The film will take us to some of these places.