The lives of musicians are endlessly fascinating.  Through dedicated and devoted practice, the instruments become part of the their being, a natural appendage of their life.  The instruments become their voice through which they communicate with the world.  The stimulus of their life, the spirit of their time, their personal desires and heartbreaks are transformed into music and shared through their performance.  And through this music, what is shared is a sense of the world, but not any ordinary sense, but the sense of an artist and musician.

The 80’s and 90’s provided some of the most frenetic stimuli in the history of New York City.  During this time, the progressive jazz scene set the stage for the artistry of Thomas Chapin.

When Chapin emerged in his thirties, he astonished people with the feeling and artistry of his performance.  No one could believe that a young man from the sleepy suburb of Manchester, Connecticut could play with such vitality and soul.  Chapin fearlessly leaped upon the stage in pursuit of the unexpected, eager to find what discoveries could be made through the spontaneous moment and what could be revealed of this moment through music.

He realized that the greatest creations could never be anticipated and could only emerge from the boundlessness of the unexpected.  Through this, he drew from the immediacy of the moment to the touch others with the range of his talents and the depths of his feeling.  His vigorous pursuit was evident on the stage as he passionately performed, sometimes playing two saxophones simultaneously, as if a single instrument could not accommodate all the music that poured from his indomitable spirit.

On Monday night, some of the best jazz musicians in the world gathered to perform at the City Winery to pay tribute to the enduring legacy of Chapin who died tragically young at the age of 40 in 1998.

Chapin’s widow, Terri Castillo Chapin and her sister, Stephanie Castillo, were present at the event.  The sisters have been producing a film documenting Chapin’s life, Night Bird Song.  The film draws upon extensive live footage of Thomas performing along with interviews with numerous luminaries in the music world.  In addition to providing insight into a remarkable musician’s life, the movie takes a look into the Jazz scene centered around many famous venues such as the Knitting Factory.

Through the night, as the musicians performed, they offered stories of times they had spent with Chapin.  They reflected upon his influence on their lives and revealed how his presence remained as they played the music tempered by the past, but riotously and vibrantly alive in the moment.

Garrett Buhl Robinson is a poet and novelist living in New York City.  www.garrettrobinson.us