by Peter Watrous - New York Times, February 11, 1995
The alto saxophonist Thomas Chapin ended his first set on Tuesday night with Charlie Parker’s “Red Cross.” Mr. Chapin began it with a chorus or two of cleanly executed be-bop, rhythmically and harmonically assured and idiomatically correct. Slowly he added newer material, repeating ideas that didn’t always conform to the tune's harmony. Rhythm-and-blues figures, howls and strange, jumping sounds that recalled the playing of the saxophonist Earl Bostic showed up.
Mr. Chapin, who is appearing through tonight, is a virtuoso, one who is mostly known for his playing on the Knitting Factory circuit, usually with his trio. He’s 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.
Mr. Chapin’s swinging quartet included Peter Madsen on piano, Ray Drummond on bass and Reggie Nicholson on drums. They performed fairly conventional material, including Thelonious Monk’s “Brake’s Sake” and the standard “You Don’t Know Me.” And Mr. Chapin performed his own open-ended “Fallen Angels,” a tune that used written material to bracket free sections. Mr. Chapin isn’t after grace or tranquility; he’s aggressive and active, as if he were pleased just to be in the middle of so much glorious information. He’s in a rush to get to it all, and makes an audience want to hear it, too.