{"id":2097,"date":"2016-08-30T15:02:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T19:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2097"},"modified":"2016-08-30T19:44:45","modified_gmt":"2016-08-30T23:44:45","slug":"thomas-chapin-on-film-with-trombari-in-normal-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2016\/08\/thomas-chapin-on-film-with-trombari-in-normal-il.html","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Chapin on film, with TromBari in Normal IL"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NightBirdSongIntermission\"<\/a>

from left: Jim Pugh, Ricardo Flores, Glenn Wilson, Armand Beaudoin at The Normal Theater; photo by Jeff Machota<\/p><\/div>\n

Glenn Wilson, a terrific baritone saxophonist and flutist<\/a> based in Normal, IL, is also a major\u00c2\u00a0mensch. Last Saturday, at the end of Normal’s Sweet Corn and Blues festival,\u00c2\u00a0he\u00c2\u00a0organized a free concert and screening of Thomas Chapin: Night Bird Song<\/a>,<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0a comprehensive documentary about his friend, the usually exuberant\u00c2\u00a0alto saxophonist, flutist and composer who died of leukemia at age 40 in 1998.<\/p>\n

I was invited to lead a post-screening discussion with director Stephanie J. Castillo, who Skyped in from Brooklyn to The Normal Theater. Hear our discussion here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bloomington-Normal are twined cities of some 130,000, home to State-Farm Insurance as well as Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University, where Wilson is newly appointed jazz director. It’s about 125 miles southwest of Chicago. Wilson makes the relatively fast drive up and back frequently, sometimes to play on a Monday night at the Serbian Village. But his connections with Thomas Chapin go back to the late ’70s, when as students at Rugers’ Livingston College they were both in professor Paul Jeffrey’s band. Both joined Lionel Hampton’s touring outfit in the 1980s. They stayed close. Wilson treasures Chapin’s music.<\/p>\n

\"Dorothy<\/a>

from left: Dorothy Matirano, Ricardo Flores, Adriana Ransom, Armand Beadoin at The Normal Theater; photo by Walter AlspaughChapin’s music.<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2012, 14 years after Chapin’s death, Wilson\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>re-arranged and recorded\u00c2\u00a0several of pieces\u00c2\u00a0from Haywire<\/em>, Chapin’s\u00c2\u00a01996 album for his trio supplanted by a second bass and cello. Wilson’s versions are heard on\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>The Devil\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hopyard<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>by\u00c2\u00a0TromBari, the ensemble he\u00c2\u00a0co-leads with trombonist Jim Pugh. At The Normal Theater, TromBari — featuring violinist Dorothy Martirano, cellist Adriana Ransom, bassist Armand Beaudoin and drummer\/percussionist Ricardo Flores — performed finely detailed yet hard-swinging parts that opened to rugged solo and group improvs. They did a rousing set before the theater darkened for the 150-minute version of the film (which Castillo is currently editing down to 90 minutes — she also has a four hour “director’s cut”) and returned for a brief blowout during an intermission. About 150 Central Illinois music devotees, some from as far away as Champaign (55 miles) and Peoria (40 miles), gathered for the event\u00c2\u00a0focused on\u00c2\u00a0a musician who had never toured the region and whose many, varied albums<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0recorded for small independent labels are rare and\/or out-of-print. Thomas Chapin’s sister and brother-in-law drove from Chicago — the same trip took me about three hours — in order to see Night Bird Song<\/em> on a\u00c2\u00a0big screen for the first time.<\/p>\n

\"Stephanie<\/a>

Stephanie J. Castillo via Skype; Mandel (l) and Wilson in foreground.<\/p><\/div>\n

Night Bird Song<\/em>, like Wilson’s\u00c2\u00a0evening-long, grant-supported screening\/show, is a labor of love. Castillo, an Emmy-winning film-maker, was Chapin’s sister-in-law, but knew little about his music or the downtown New York scene he enlivened until after his demise.\u00c2\u00a0Having done deep research, she has made a thorough job of\u00c2\u00a0tracing Chapin’s musical life from its earliest glimmerings through his posthumous album releases, including interviews with such of his important collaborators as bassist Mario Pavone, drummer Michael Sarin and saxophonist Ned Rothenberg and great live performance footage.<\/p>\n

Here’s Chapin, age 26, blowing the blues while Hampton, 84, bounces behind his drums. \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0