
On June 14 in Scottsdale, Arizona, in a sacred space called The Boulder House, an event hosted by Diamond Visions Events allowed me for the first time to expose an audience to Thomas Chapin's music.
There were some jazz lovers among the 50-plus who attended, but my guess is that most were among the "uninitiated". That is they were far from being jazz fans or afficiandos.
They had been sitting for a while as I shared stories and clips of my 25 years of filmmaking; some got restless, I must confess, as I was going on a bit too long.
But when it was finally time to share about my new film project, the room stopped moving, and all ears and eyes were on the clip I played for them as an introduction to Thomas Chapin.
I had a feeling they would enjoy this clip, a 6-minute video of the Thomas Chapin Trio playing on the big stage before 10,000 people at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1995.
What I didn't anticipate was the silence and stillness in the room as the music romped and the Chapin riffs and chops filled the space. This powerful performance seemed to drench the air with energy and excitement. It's that "Thomas Chapin thing" I thought. Folks who had seen him play live would talk about this phenomena. Captivating energy, mesmerizing, stimulating jazz.
That night, I became very sure that the film I was making would prove to be one that could hold any audience. Because Thomas could, his music could, did and still does.
Can't wait to mesmerize and Thomasize everyone with this film!!
There were some jazz lovers among the 50-plus who attended, but my guess is that most were among the "uninitiated". That is they were far from being jazz fans or afficiandos.
They had been sitting for a while as I shared stories and clips of my 25 years of filmmaking; some got restless, I must confess, as I was going on a bit too long.
But when it was finally time to share about my new film project, the room stopped moving, and all ears and eyes were on the clip I played for them as an introduction to Thomas Chapin.
I had a feeling they would enjoy this clip, a 6-minute video of the Thomas Chapin Trio playing on the big stage before 10,000 people at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1995.
What I didn't anticipate was the silence and stillness in the room as the music romped and the Chapin riffs and chops filled the space. This powerful performance seemed to drench the air with energy and excitement. It's that "Thomas Chapin thing" I thought. Folks who had seen him play live would talk about this phenomena. Captivating energy, mesmerizing, stimulating jazz.
That night, I became very sure that the film I was making would prove to be one that could hold any audience. Because Thomas could, his music could, did and still does.
Can't wait to mesmerize and Thomasize everyone with this film!!