PRESS RELEASE
for immediate release
CONTACT: Stephanie J. Castillo castillosj@aol.com 808-383-7393 www.thomaschapinfilm.com
for immediate release
CONTACT: Stephanie J. Castillo castillosj@aol.com 808-383-7393 www.thomaschapinfilm.com
MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL 2016 BRINGS THE LATE Thomas Chapin Full Circle Through DOCUMENTARY FILM, Chapin FINALLY “PLAYs" 20 Years after Canceling Due to Illness
SEPT. 8, 2016
THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG, a 150-minute epic tale of this brilliant and extraordinary jazz master, will be screened at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 18, 2016, at 4:30 pm in the Jazz Theater.
(Thursday, August 11, 2016, New York, New York) The significance of performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival can not be understated. The longest-running jazz festival in the world features the best of jazz through performance and education. It hosts unparalleled world talent and legends and stands as a legacy to this musical genre, and impacts future generations of jazz musicians and afficionados alike.
It would have been a momentous milestone for the career of saxophonist-flutist and composer Thomas Chapin and an unforgettable, exhilarating ride for the audience if he had been able to play with his Trio back in 1997. At the peak of his form, he was booked to play for the festival’s 40th anniversary.
After standout appearances on other big world jazz stages in New York, Newport, Europe, Japan, and Canada, the Thomas Chapin Trio was ready to play Monterey in the fall of 1997. Regrettably Chapin was forced to cancel after he was diagnosed with leukemia. Thomas Chapin died months later on Feb. 13, 1998 after he cancelled the booking. He was about to turn 41. His star was gaining altitude, rising to the pinnacle of the Monterey Jazz Festival which would have sky rocketed him into a household name in jazz. Now, 20 years later and through the award-winning film, THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG, this unknown jazz virtuoso will finally come full circle and "play" Monterey.
A POTENT FORCE IN JAZZ
For his two decades of performing, Chapin was a force, a player with “massive chops," whose sound was sui generis. He had an uncanny gift of melding all forms of jazz into a single body of music. His pathway of moving sound was so multi-directional, yet singular, so original, yet steeped in tradition, that the jazz community struggled to categorize him.
Peter Watrous of the New York Times captures his extraordinary power and versatility when he described Chapin's performance in1995: "Chapin… is a virtuoso… 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."
Aidan Levy, who knew of Chapin and reviewed the film this year for JazzTimes Magazine, wrote that Chapin was “considered by some to have fundamentally expanded the boundaries of the jazz discourse.”
Dan Melnick, a concert producer in the 90's with George Wein's Festival Productions and its Newport Jazz Festival spinoffs that the Thomas Chapin Trio performed for, said, "For me and many others, Thomas stood at the center of numerous disparate worlds of jazz at that time. He was a master of all forms of jazz and maybe proved that these 'schools' or 'styles' weren't so different at all."
MONTEREY FILM SCREENING
THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG, a 150-minute epic tale of this brilliant and extraordinary jazz master, will be screened at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 18, 2016, at 4:30 pm in the Jazz Theater.
Emmy-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo’s documentary tells Chapin's story using the intimate details and captivating storytelling of 45 featured musicians, promoters, music critics, friends and family. The film, which has received high acclaim from reviewers and viewers, reveals Chapin's music formation, including his six-year stint as Lionel Hampton's music director and lead alto sax. It goes on to detail Chapin's emergence as a musical force in the late 1980s in the New York downtown jazz scene. Using archival performance film and video footage, the film shows how Chapin's distinct and inimitable style helped move the music forward in the 1990s.
The film also clearly establishes Chapin as one of the few artists of his generation to exist in both the New York City's downtown experimentalist scene and in the uptown world of traditional jazz. Fearless in his pursuit of creating an edgy, engaging, cutting-edge sound that pushed jazz forward, he was also tireless and passionate in showing his classical and mainstream influences.
Thomas Chapin was an artist who “was his own man,” a “free musician,” but whose music resonated loudly with the work of reed giants from an earlier age. He met his life’s end way too soon, while his dreams still burned bright and his audiences yearned for more. Today, new listeners and young players seeking inspiration are discovering and playing his music. Thanks to the film, Chapin will no longer be a footnote in jazz. His indelible mark will be known for all time.
In May 2016 in Nice, France, NIGHT BIRD SONG received the Nice International Filmmakers Festival award for Best Story. It was also nominated for Best Director of a Feature Documentary and Best Documentary at the New York City International Film Festival.
To view the film’s trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvWHsVSoPME
About the Filmmaker
Stephanie J. Castillo is a former newspaper journalist who wrote for the Honolulu Star Bulletin in the 1980s. She heads Hawaii-based 'Olena Productions and has partners in Washington D.C., New York City, and Europe. This is her tenth documentary film.
Among Stephanie's documentaries and co-production film credits include:
Grace and Beauty: 150 Years of the Episcopal Church in Hawaii 2012
Strange Land: My Mother‟s War Bride Story 2009
Remember the Boys 2007
An Uncommon Kindness: The Father Damien Story 2006
Cockfighters: The Interviews 2003
An Untold Triumph: The Story of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiment, US. Army 2002
Simple Courage: An Historical Portrait in the Age of AIDS 1992. Emmy 1993.
FILM ACCOLADES
"inspiring"..."a masterpiece"..."a coup and tour de force"... "a must see…” “masterful and beautiful work/tribute.”
“…an intoxicating story of love and music and music and love.Ron Scott, amsterdamnews.com
“Stephanie, has brought this documentary film to fruition to remind jazz fans of what a potent force Chapin was on the ’90s jazz scene.” DOWNBEAT
“…the first full assessment of Chapin’s life and work, seeks to broaden that audience and preserve his legacy.” Jazz Times
Watch for a film review in JAZZIZ Magazine, which will be published on September 1 (online) and September 15 (print). https://www.jazziz.com/
REVIEWS
Reviews of Thomas Chapin, Night Bird Song (The Incandescent Life of a Jazz Great) include:
Film Fest International: As the film soars to the heights of Chapin’s musical life, viewers will be taken on an amazing, joyful biographical journey to what Chapin called his “abyss of despair”, which Chapin also described as as “the realm of the miraculous.” Just as he had transcended the boundaries of jazz and music, Chapin tragic end proves to be transcendent even as his life had to end too soon.
http://filmfestinternational.com/thomas-chapin-night-bird-song-incandescent-life-jazz-great/
JazzTimes: The 150-minute film, directed by Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo...captures Chapin’s frenetic spontaneity. Castillo culled the soundtrack from more than 200 live and studio recordings, a piercing counterpoint to the 47 interview subjects, including childhood friends, relatives, mentors and collaborators.
http://jazztimes.com/articles/172073-the-brilliant-life-tragic-death-of-thomas-chapin
Arteidolia, March 2016, Leave Nothing Out, by Patrick Brennan: Wow. Journalist and filmmaker Stephanie Castillo has accomplished a combination coup and tour de force with her documentary on the music and life of composer–saxophonist-flautist Thomas Chapin (1957-1998). http://www.arteidolia.com/leave-nothing-out-thomas-chapin-stephanie-castillo-patrick-brennan
NPR, March 2, 2016, Thomas Chapin‟s life and music celebrated, film and concert Hartford's Real Art Ways http://wnpr.org/post/thomas-chapin-s-life-and-music-celebrated-film-and-concert-hartfords-real-art-ways.
The Free Jazz Collective, April 19, 2016: Night Bird Song is a moving film that will hopefully present Chapin's small but brilliant body of work to a new set of appreciative listeners.
http://www.freejazzblog.org/2016/04/thomas-chapin-night-bird-song-olena.html
INTERVIEWS INVITED
Stephanie J. Castillo is available for interviews at castillosj@aol.com and welcomes reviews of the film from the press community. To learn more about her 30-year filmmaking career and for information about her other films, please visit:
http://www.olenamedia.com
Her film's website is http://www.thomaschapinfilm.com/
For more on the Monterey Jazz Festival: http://www.montereyjazzfestival.org/artists/thomas-chapin-night-bird-song
http://www.montereyjazzfestival.org/
THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG, a 150-minute epic tale of this brilliant and extraordinary jazz master, will be screened at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 18, 2016, at 4:30 pm in the Jazz Theater.
(Thursday, August 11, 2016, New York, New York) The significance of performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival can not be understated. The longest-running jazz festival in the world features the best of jazz through performance and education. It hosts unparalleled world talent and legends and stands as a legacy to this musical genre, and impacts future generations of jazz musicians and afficionados alike.
It would have been a momentous milestone for the career of saxophonist-flutist and composer Thomas Chapin and an unforgettable, exhilarating ride for the audience if he had been able to play with his Trio back in 1997. At the peak of his form, he was booked to play for the festival’s 40th anniversary.
After standout appearances on other big world jazz stages in New York, Newport, Europe, Japan, and Canada, the Thomas Chapin Trio was ready to play Monterey in the fall of 1997. Regrettably Chapin was forced to cancel after he was diagnosed with leukemia. Thomas Chapin died months later on Feb. 13, 1998 after he cancelled the booking. He was about to turn 41. His star was gaining altitude, rising to the pinnacle of the Monterey Jazz Festival which would have sky rocketed him into a household name in jazz. Now, 20 years later and through the award-winning film, THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG, this unknown jazz virtuoso will finally come full circle and "play" Monterey.
A POTENT FORCE IN JAZZ
For his two decades of performing, Chapin was a force, a player with “massive chops," whose sound was sui generis. He had an uncanny gift of melding all forms of jazz into a single body of music. His pathway of moving sound was so multi-directional, yet singular, so original, yet steeped in tradition, that the jazz community struggled to categorize him.
Peter Watrous of the New York Times captures his extraordinary power and versatility when he described Chapin's performance in1995: "Chapin… is a virtuoso… 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."
Aidan Levy, who knew of Chapin and reviewed the film this year for JazzTimes Magazine, wrote that Chapin was “considered by some to have fundamentally expanded the boundaries of the jazz discourse.”
Dan Melnick, a concert producer in the 90's with George Wein's Festival Productions and its Newport Jazz Festival spinoffs that the Thomas Chapin Trio performed for, said, "For me and many others, Thomas stood at the center of numerous disparate worlds of jazz at that time. He was a master of all forms of jazz and maybe proved that these 'schools' or 'styles' weren't so different at all."
MONTEREY FILM SCREENING
THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG, a 150-minute epic tale of this brilliant and extraordinary jazz master, will be screened at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 18, 2016, at 4:30 pm in the Jazz Theater.
Emmy-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo’s documentary tells Chapin's story using the intimate details and captivating storytelling of 45 featured musicians, promoters, music critics, friends and family. The film, which has received high acclaim from reviewers and viewers, reveals Chapin's music formation, including his six-year stint as Lionel Hampton's music director and lead alto sax. It goes on to detail Chapin's emergence as a musical force in the late 1980s in the New York downtown jazz scene. Using archival performance film and video footage, the film shows how Chapin's distinct and inimitable style helped move the music forward in the 1990s.
The film also clearly establishes Chapin as one of the few artists of his generation to exist in both the New York City's downtown experimentalist scene and in the uptown world of traditional jazz. Fearless in his pursuit of creating an edgy, engaging, cutting-edge sound that pushed jazz forward, he was also tireless and passionate in showing his classical and mainstream influences.
Thomas Chapin was an artist who “was his own man,” a “free musician,” but whose music resonated loudly with the work of reed giants from an earlier age. He met his life’s end way too soon, while his dreams still burned bright and his audiences yearned for more. Today, new listeners and young players seeking inspiration are discovering and playing his music. Thanks to the film, Chapin will no longer be a footnote in jazz. His indelible mark will be known for all time.
In May 2016 in Nice, France, NIGHT BIRD SONG received the Nice International Filmmakers Festival award for Best Story. It was also nominated for Best Director of a Feature Documentary and Best Documentary at the New York City International Film Festival.
To view the film’s trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvWHsVSoPME
About the Filmmaker
Stephanie J. Castillo is a former newspaper journalist who wrote for the Honolulu Star Bulletin in the 1980s. She heads Hawaii-based 'Olena Productions and has partners in Washington D.C., New York City, and Europe. This is her tenth documentary film.
Among Stephanie's documentaries and co-production film credits include:
Grace and Beauty: 150 Years of the Episcopal Church in Hawaii 2012
Strange Land: My Mother‟s War Bride Story 2009
Remember the Boys 2007
An Uncommon Kindness: The Father Damien Story 2006
Cockfighters: The Interviews 2003
An Untold Triumph: The Story of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiment, US. Army 2002
Simple Courage: An Historical Portrait in the Age of AIDS 1992. Emmy 1993.
FILM ACCOLADES
"inspiring"..."a masterpiece"..."a coup and tour de force"... "a must see…” “masterful and beautiful work/tribute.”
“…an intoxicating story of love and music and music and love.Ron Scott, amsterdamnews.com
“Stephanie, has brought this documentary film to fruition to remind jazz fans of what a potent force Chapin was on the ’90s jazz scene.” DOWNBEAT
“…the first full assessment of Chapin’s life and work, seeks to broaden that audience and preserve his legacy.” Jazz Times
Watch for a film review in JAZZIZ Magazine, which will be published on September 1 (online) and September 15 (print). https://www.jazziz.com/
REVIEWS
Reviews of Thomas Chapin, Night Bird Song (The Incandescent Life of a Jazz Great) include:
Film Fest International: As the film soars to the heights of Chapin’s musical life, viewers will be taken on an amazing, joyful biographical journey to what Chapin called his “abyss of despair”, which Chapin also described as as “the realm of the miraculous.” Just as he had transcended the boundaries of jazz and music, Chapin tragic end proves to be transcendent even as his life had to end too soon.
http://filmfestinternational.com/thomas-chapin-night-bird-song-incandescent-life-jazz-great/
JazzTimes: The 150-minute film, directed by Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo...captures Chapin’s frenetic spontaneity. Castillo culled the soundtrack from more than 200 live and studio recordings, a piercing counterpoint to the 47 interview subjects, including childhood friends, relatives, mentors and collaborators.
http://jazztimes.com/articles/172073-the-brilliant-life-tragic-death-of-thomas-chapin
Arteidolia, March 2016, Leave Nothing Out, by Patrick Brennan: Wow. Journalist and filmmaker Stephanie Castillo has accomplished a combination coup and tour de force with her documentary on the music and life of composer–saxophonist-flautist Thomas Chapin (1957-1998). http://www.arteidolia.com/leave-nothing-out-thomas-chapin-stephanie-castillo-patrick-brennan
NPR, March 2, 2016, Thomas Chapin‟s life and music celebrated, film and concert Hartford's Real Art Ways http://wnpr.org/post/thomas-chapin-s-life-and-music-celebrated-film-and-concert-hartfords-real-art-ways.
The Free Jazz Collective, April 19, 2016: Night Bird Song is a moving film that will hopefully present Chapin's small but brilliant body of work to a new set of appreciative listeners.
http://www.freejazzblog.org/2016/04/thomas-chapin-night-bird-song-olena.html
INTERVIEWS INVITED
Stephanie J. Castillo is available for interviews at castillosj@aol.com and welcomes reviews of the film from the press community. To learn more about her 30-year filmmaking career and for information about her other films, please visit:
http://www.olenamedia.com
Her film's website is http://www.thomaschapinfilm.com/
For more on the Monterey Jazz Festival: http://www.montereyjazzfestival.org/artists/thomas-chapin-night-bird-song
http://www.montereyjazzfestival.org/
THOMAS CHAPIN FILM PROJECT RELEASES NEW TRAILER
The fundraising trailer is a WOW and perfect for fundraising.
Castillo collaborated with a Hollywood film editor to give the new NIGHT BIRD SONG trailer a WOW! factor.
Thomas Chapin Film Project - November, 2013 -- EMMY Award-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo's effort to make a documentary film about the late sax and flute man Thomas Chapin gets a boost with a new trailer that shows off her high-definition footage and precious archival footage from Chapin's short but remarkable career.
"In sneak previews, this 7-minute trailer flies by and WOW's! It channels the Thomas Chapin story in an exciting time-capsule that is full of energy and archival footage that brings him to life," says Castillo. She started the project back in March 2012. With $51,552 successfully raised at Kickstarter.com in March 2013, Castillo was able to launch her filming of the documentary in July. The new trailer shows off several of the 20 interviews she did with those who knew him best. She captured them on high definition video during shoots in Connecticut and New York City. A round-two of shooting involving more interviews and locations is needed next, she says, and hopes to accomplish this next spring. The new trailer also includes some of the large inventory of archival performances during Chapin's heyday in the 80's and 90's that she has been gathering with help of fellow musicians and Thomas's promoters. Castillo intends to use this new fundraising tool to attract art funders, corporate sponsors and new donors in her efforts to keep the project's momentum going. She is aiming to tell Chapin's story in a feature-length documentary slated to finish by early 2015. "The film will help fill the music and memory gap for the world. I am doing this because I truly believe Thomas's music remains timeless and his unique, unforgettable spirit is worth knowing," says the filmmaker. Major fundraising concert at City Winery in Manhattan, January 20, 2014 Impresario and music promoter Michael Dorf is organizing a jazz concert and fundraiser to benefit the film at his City Winery restaurant and music venue on January 20, 2014. Dorf was the big giver at the film's fundraising campaign at Kickstarter, backing it with $10,000. 
The fundraiser will headline John Zorn, Mario Pavone, Joe Lovano, Ned Rothenberg, Marty Ehrlich, Mike Blake, Roy Nathanson and many more to be announced. The trailer and other samples from the July film shoots will be previewed that night. "Michael, who was the first to promote Thomas at the old Knitting Factory in downtown NYC, is determined to help move this film project forward. I can't thank him enough!" says Castillo.
Ticket info: $25 for stools, $50 for seats, and $125 for a VIP ticket includes food with musicians....Tickets will be sold at www.citywinery.com. 
About Chapin
A brilliant bandleader, composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his energetic and virtuosic playing of alto sax, flute and many other instruments, Chapin died in 1998 after battling leukemia for a year just as he was gaining wider recognition for his original style and his natural ability to play to both straight-ahead jazz audiences and adventurous avant jazz fans. This quality of crossing over, rare in jazz during the 80's and 90's, was what made him a stand out in his day, not to mention his spirited, colorful persona and energetic presence that never failed to draw many to him on stage and off. At the time of his illness, Chapin and his trio were already drawing the interest of major record labels with their SKYPIECE CD. Chapin felt sure this CD was perfect for solidifying the trio's entry into the jazz mainstream. "The plane was just gaining altitude" is how Chapin's bassist Mario Pavone speaks of the ironic convergence of illness and the expected success of SKYPIECE which critics today say could have catapulted Chapin and his music into a trajectory of greater fame. Moving forward, new donors needed
All donations and funding sponsorships are welcomed, big and small. Tax-deductible donations are being received by Akasha Inc., a nonprofit organization furthering music education and the musical legacy of Thomas Chapin. Go to www.thomaschapin.com/donate to donate with a credit card. Checks or U.S. money orders should be made out to "Akasha Inc." Send to: Akasha Inc., P. O. Box 721032, Jackson Heights, NY 11372 USA # # # #
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Stephanie J. Castillo, filmmaker 1.808.383.7393 castillosj@aol.com
'Olena Productions
a Hawai'i-based, all-media company with partners in Honolulu, Kauai, Los Angeles, NYC, Dallas, Washington DC |