HONOLULU, Dec. 2015
Aloha! Will you help get the word out in advance about a sneak peek of the documentary THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG on January 4 and 8, 2016? Thanks, Linda
Media Contacts: Linda Dela Cruz 808.228.2849 LindaDelaCruz@hawaii.rr.com
Stephanie J. Castillo 808.383.7393 CastilloSJ@aol.com
THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG
SNEAK PEEK SCREENINGS JANUARY 4 and 8, 2016
(Honolulu, HI – December 9, 2015) Emmy-winning Hawaii filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo returns to Hawaii after four years to present a special sneak peek of her latest documentary, THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG, a music documentary. The sneak peek will feature a Q&A with Castillo and the showing of selected segments of her two hour and 30 min. film. Her epic tale explores in compelling and fascinating detail the life and music of the late jazz musician Thomas Chapin, a master alto sax and flute player who performed in both the traditional and avant garde worlds of jazz in New York City, Connecticut and Europe in the 80’s and 90’s. His ties to Hawaii include a one-night performance at the former Honolulu Museum of Art in 1993. He was married to New Yorker and Kauai native Terri Castillo, the filmmaker’s sister.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Monday Dinner Theater by Don Brown
TIME: 7 p.m. Q and A session to follow
LOCATION: Fresh Café Downtown, 1111 Nuuanu Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96817
COST: $5 at the door
If you want to order dinner, please call 436-4326 to reserve a table, and arrive
by 6:30 p.m. to place your order. Dinner is not included in the $5 admission.
Friday, January 8, 2016
“God-led Filmmaking:” An Evening with Stephanie J. Castillo
TIME: 7-9:30 including Q and A session
LOCATION: St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church Parish Hall,
4364 Hardy St, Lihue, HI 96766
COST: Free will offering
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call 245-3796 or 647-4346
To view the film’s trailer, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvWHsVSoPME
For more on the film, log onto http://www.thomaschapinfilm.com/
More on Chapin and the Film
Destined to be among the great virtuosos of jazz, Thomas Chapin was nearing the pinnacle of his meteoric rise when leukemia took him in 1998 at the age of 40. He started his career as band manger and lead alto sax for big band leader Lionel Hampton, and then went on to form his own trio. Though fame and world recognition have eluded him despite the enduring mark he left on jazz in the '80s and '90s, his passionate life and incandescent music remain unforgettable to fans who knew him and musicians who played with him. And today, his music is inspiring a new generation of artists and musicians who have discovered him.
THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG draws an intimate portrait of this music explorer who pushed and transcended the boundaries of jazz and dissolved the distinctions between sound and music. Because of this moving and engrossing film, he will no longer be only a footnote in jazz. His indelible mark will be known and revealed to the world. Chapin left a music legacy that is still being discovered.
The Thomas Chapin Trio performed at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Theater on April 11, 1993. In this performance, the trio included bassist Mario Pavone and drummer Michael Sarin. The late James Delano of Lion Coffee was one of the event’s sponsors.
The first showcase and premiere of the film is slated for New York City at a major film festival in February 2016. Other major showcases will follow including showings in art theaters, museums, and in film and jazz festivals across the world. For more information on the film project, log onto http://www.thomaschapinfilm.com. For more on Stephanie J. Castillo, log onto http://www.olenamedia.com/
Finishing the Film in Honolulu
Castillo, who was formerly a Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter in the 1980’s, became an Emmy-winning filmmaker with her first documentary, SIMPLE COURAGE, which was co-produced with Hawaii Public Television. She recently returned to Hawaii to complete her film’s final post-production in Honolulu.
The Kauai native is working with local video and sound editors to put the final touches on her 10th documentary. Dean Sensui, executive director of Hawaii Productions Associates and Hawaii Goes Fishing fame, is handling the final edit. Gaylord Holomalia, studio manager of Island Sound Studios, will be orchestrating the sound design and stereo sound production.
The filmmaker’s four years away from Hawaii included traveling to research and film in Phoenix, Tucson, New York City, Brooklyn, Hartford, CT and in four countries in Europe. Castillo spent nine months editing her three-hour and 12-minute director’s cut in the quiet isolation of Vermont and Connecticut. Her showcase version runs 2 hours and 30 min.
Her fundraising efforts for the film included crowdfunding success at kickstarter.com where she raised $51,550 in 2013; $65,000 raised from private donors; and two small fundraisers held on Facebook to launch her filming in Europe. A small federal grant will assist her in launching her showcases.
She continues to seek funds needed to pay for rights and acquisition of the visual images, to acquire copyrighted music used in the film and to launch her promotional efforts. To support the film, donations can be made by logging on to http://www.thomaschapin.com/donate
Among Stephanie J. Castillo’s documentaries and co-productions:
Simple Courage: An Historical Portrait in the Age of AIDS 1992
An Untold Triumph: The Story of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiment, US. Army 2002
Cockfighters: The Interviews 2003
An Uncommon Kindness: The Father Damien Story 2006
Remember the Boys 2007
Strange Land: My Mother’s War Bride Story 2009
Grace and Beauty: 150 Years of the Episcopal Church in Hawaii 2012
JAZZ CORNER RELEASE
(Published: March 09, 2014)
THOMAS CHAPIN FILM PROJECT BEGINS 2ND ROUND OF FILMING
EMMY-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo reports that it has now been two years of steady progress since she conceived the film THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG in 2012.
She is now preparing for the 2nd round of shoots this April. The first round was completed in July 2013 with 20 interviews in the can.
The success at the City Winery fundraising event in Manhattan on Jan. 20 gave another great boost to the project in helping support this next phase of shooting. She's very thankfull to music promoter Michael Dorf, who hosted the event, and "all the great musicians who performed. The funds raised have enabled me to schedule 4 more packed days of shooting in April to capture an additional 12 on-camera interviews. However, this is only 4 days out of the 10 days needed to complete this vital second shoot. More interviews will still be needed as well as location shots."
Castillo is continuing to search for grants and to find other means of funding the film so she can complete the needed shoots before she can start editing. "If I am successful in beginning the editing by this summer, we just might have a first cut to view in December," she says.
Among those scheduled for interviews in April are musicians Ray Drummond, Pablo Aslan, Marty Erhlich, Jerry Weldon, Michael Mussilami, Corina Bartra, Michael Rabinowitz, and Allen Won; poets Vernon Frazer and Steve Dalachinsky; and (still to be confirmed) critic/writer Peter Watrous.
Thomas Chapin was admired for his exuberance as a multi-instrumentalist, band leader and composer. Once a musical director and lead also sax for the legendary Lionel Hampton, he was one of the few artists of his generation to exist in both the worlds of the New York City's downtown, experimentalist scene and the uptown scene of mainstream jazz. The saxophonist-flautist was just making his mark when his life was cut short by leukemia in 1998 at age 40.
(Published: March 09, 2014)
THOMAS CHAPIN FILM PROJECT BEGINS 2ND ROUND OF FILMING
EMMY-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo reports that it has now been two years of steady progress since she conceived the film THOMAS CHAPIN, NIGHT BIRD SONG in 2012.
She is now preparing for the 2nd round of shoots this April. The first round was completed in July 2013 with 20 interviews in the can.
The success at the City Winery fundraising event in Manhattan on Jan. 20 gave another great boost to the project in helping support this next phase of shooting. She's very thankfull to music promoter Michael Dorf, who hosted the event, and "all the great musicians who performed. The funds raised have enabled me to schedule 4 more packed days of shooting in April to capture an additional 12 on-camera interviews. However, this is only 4 days out of the 10 days needed to complete this vital second shoot. More interviews will still be needed as well as location shots."
Castillo is continuing to search for grants and to find other means of funding the film so she can complete the needed shoots before she can start editing. "If I am successful in beginning the editing by this summer, we just might have a first cut to view in December," she says.
Among those scheduled for interviews in April are musicians Ray Drummond, Pablo Aslan, Marty Erhlich, Jerry Weldon, Michael Mussilami, Corina Bartra, Michael Rabinowitz, and Allen Won; poets Vernon Frazer and Steve Dalachinsky; and (still to be confirmed) critic/writer Peter Watrous.
Thomas Chapin was admired for his exuberance as a multi-instrumentalist, band leader and composer. Once a musical director and lead also sax for the legendary Lionel Hampton, he was one of the few artists of his generation to exist in both the worlds of the New York City's downtown, experimentalist scene and the uptown scene of mainstream jazz. The saxophonist-flautist was just making his mark when his life was cut short by leukemia in 1998 at age 40.
Thomas Chapin Film Project - August, 2013 -- Round one of filming for the Thomas Chapin film, NIGHT BIRD SONG, ended July 24 with 20 interviews in the can and footage from a July 8 Hartford, CT jazz concert performance by Chapin's bassist and close friend Mario Pavone and his Orange Double Tenor septet.
EMMY Award-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo's documentary about the music and memory of the late saxophone great as told by those who knew him best continues now with the editing of a new trailer and a 20-minute segment of the film that will be used to attract art and corporate funders and sponsors.
About the filming
"I can't wait to show some of our brilliant footage and interviews. This is the next step -- to show off what we're getting with the hope of attracting more funding to keep the momentum of the project going," says Castillo. NIGHT BIRD SONG is slated for a 2014-2015 finish.
Chapin's storytellers in the film are like a "band of brothers," she says, with everyone remembering him intimately, lovingly and sadly missing him still. Everyone I have interviewed so far was close to him -- friends, family, writers/critics who followed him, and the musicians who circled Chapin with an "intense allegiance," as one critic described those who played with him during his remarkable 20-year career.
"That's what the film will capture," says Castillo. "It will be an exploration of what these allegiances of friendship, music and love meant and how such dedication to Chapin lifted them and him. It's a love story about a beloved man, his incredible music, and the people with whom he forged unforgettable memories and formidable loyalties."
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, he and his Thomas Chapin Trio was 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.
More about the filming
The 20 interviews conducted for round one of her filmming took Castillo and her film crew to Hartford, Brooklyn and Manhattan. "I am very excited about what we got. It's really great stuff content-wise and cinematically," she says. She credits Director of Photography Hugh Walsh, a New Yorker, with the intimacy captured for the film and for the beautifully lit portraits.
Other interviews are pending for a round two of shooting. This round Castillo captured in the Hartford area Chapin's most intimate circle of players: Mario Pavone, pianist Peter Madsen, drummer Steve Johns and trombonist Peter McEachern. Most exceptional was the filming of Pavone's setpet rendition of Chapin's SKY PIECE, performed at a jazz concert at Bushnell Park in Hartford. The crew also visited the Litchfield Jazz Festival's jazz camp, where internationally recognized jazz artists teach alongside Connecticut musicians. Also interviewed in Hartford was WWUH 91.3 FM's Jazz Program Director Chuck Obuchowski, who interviewed Chapin many times during his hometown visits to Hartford.
After Hartford, Castillo and crew moved its filmming to Manhattan and Brooklyn and interviewed Chapin's brother Ted; Terri Castillo Chapin, wife and keeper of the Thomas Chapin legacy; the old Knitting Factory's founder, Michael Dorf; Bruce Gallanter of Downtown Music Gallery; music writers Bob Blumenthal, Larry Blumenfeld and Gene Seymour; Chapin's close, longtime friend and bassist, Arthur Kell; other longtime friends guitarist Saul Rubin, woodwind master Ned Rothenberg, Thomas Chapin Trio drummer Michael Sarin, and jazz festival promoter Danny Melnick; Rutgers University jazz educator and bassist Larry Ridley; and Sam Kaufman, Chapin's manager.
The next step
"We've got great content to help us unfold the Thomas Chapin story, but will have to do a round two of filmming to complete the picture," says Castillo, who is now preparing to edit the new trailer.
"Although Thomas has been gone 15 years, he is in the jazz history books and his music clearly lives on today, keeping his spirit and his memory alive," she says. "Whether it's on the internet or on radio stations, in the acclaimed posthumous, new 3-CD release NEVER LET ME GO, or in music of others who play tribute to him in their recordings and performances, including new, younger next-generation players who've recently discovered Chapin, he's still around. "People are doing today what he was doing 15 years ago, but no one is doing it better than him," is the consensus of many of the film's interviewees.
"The film will help fill the music and memory gap for the world, because I truly believe his music remains timeless and his unique, unforgettable spirit worth knowing," says the filmmaker.
Ongoing Fundraising for the Film
Castillo is at a critical juncture and continues to seek funding for the film to keep the project moving forward with more needed photography and editing. 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
EMMY Award-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo's documentary about the music and memory of the late saxophone great as told by those who knew him best continues now with the editing of a new trailer and a 20-minute segment of the film that will be used to attract art and corporate funders and sponsors.
About the filming
"I can't wait to show some of our brilliant footage and interviews. This is the next step -- to show off what we're getting with the hope of attracting more funding to keep the momentum of the project going," says Castillo. NIGHT BIRD SONG is slated for a 2014-2015 finish.
Chapin's storytellers in the film are like a "band of brothers," she says, with everyone remembering him intimately, lovingly and sadly missing him still. Everyone I have interviewed so far was close to him -- friends, family, writers/critics who followed him, and the musicians who circled Chapin with an "intense allegiance," as one critic described those who played with him during his remarkable 20-year career.
"That's what the film will capture," says Castillo. "It will be an exploration of what these allegiances of friendship, music and love meant and how such dedication to Chapin lifted them and him. It's a love story about a beloved man, his incredible music, and the people with whom he forged unforgettable memories and formidable loyalties."
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, he and his Thomas Chapin Trio was 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.
More about the filming
The 20 interviews conducted for round one of her filmming took Castillo and her film crew to Hartford, Brooklyn and Manhattan. "I am very excited about what we got. It's really great stuff content-wise and cinematically," she says. She credits Director of Photography Hugh Walsh, a New Yorker, with the intimacy captured for the film and for the beautifully lit portraits.
Other interviews are pending for a round two of shooting. This round Castillo captured in the Hartford area Chapin's most intimate circle of players: Mario Pavone, pianist Peter Madsen, drummer Steve Johns and trombonist Peter McEachern. Most exceptional was the filming of Pavone's setpet rendition of Chapin's SKY PIECE, performed at a jazz concert at Bushnell Park in Hartford. The crew also visited the Litchfield Jazz Festival's jazz camp, where internationally recognized jazz artists teach alongside Connecticut musicians. Also interviewed in Hartford was WWUH 91.3 FM's Jazz Program Director Chuck Obuchowski, who interviewed Chapin many times during his hometown visits to Hartford.
After Hartford, Castillo and crew moved its filmming to Manhattan and Brooklyn and interviewed Chapin's brother Ted; Terri Castillo Chapin, wife and keeper of the Thomas Chapin legacy; the old Knitting Factory's founder, Michael Dorf; Bruce Gallanter of Downtown Music Gallery; music writers Bob Blumenthal, Larry Blumenfeld and Gene Seymour; Chapin's close, longtime friend and bassist, Arthur Kell; other longtime friends guitarist Saul Rubin, woodwind master Ned Rothenberg, Thomas Chapin Trio drummer Michael Sarin, and jazz festival promoter Danny Melnick; Rutgers University jazz educator and bassist Larry Ridley; and Sam Kaufman, Chapin's manager.
The next step
"We've got great content to help us unfold the Thomas Chapin story, but will have to do a round two of filmming to complete the picture," says Castillo, who is now preparing to edit the new trailer.
"Although Thomas has been gone 15 years, he is in the jazz history books and his music clearly lives on today, keeping his spirit and his memory alive," she says. "Whether it's on the internet or on radio stations, in the acclaimed posthumous, new 3-CD release NEVER LET ME GO, or in music of others who play tribute to him in their recordings and performances, including new, younger next-generation players who've recently discovered Chapin, he's still around. "People are doing today what he was doing 15 years ago, but no one is doing it better than him," is the consensus of many of the film's interviewees.
"The film will help fill the music and memory gap for the world, because I truly believe his music remains timeless and his unique, unforgettable spirit worth knowing," says the filmmaker.
Ongoing Fundraising for the Film
Castillo is at a critical juncture and continues to seek funding for the film to keep the project moving forward with more needed photography and editing. 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
July, 2013
THOMAS CHAPIN FILM PROJECT LAUNCHES SHOOTING IN HARTFORD, CT
NYC film crew to shoot July 8 jazz concert and interviews.
The late Thomas Chapin in 1996.
Thomas Chapin Film Project - July, 2013 -- The moving story of Connecticut native and NYC jazz man, the late Thomas Chapin, will begin to unfold for documentary film cameras starting July 8 at a Hartford, CT concert, which will feature musicians who knew him and played with him during his short but remarkable 20-year musical career.
Chapin, who passed away in 1998 from leukemia, is the subject of EMMY Award-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo's 10th documentary. He is remembered as a brilliant bandleader, composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his energetic and virtuosic playing of alto sax and flute. He battled leukemia for a year before he died 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, unique in jazz for the 80's and 90's, was just gaining the interest of major record labels.
Castillo decided to begin her shooting of the planned 90-minute NIGHT BIRD SONG: THE THOMAS CHAPIN STORY in the greater Hartford area, where Chapin was born and played in all his musical life. "When he was on the road with Lionel Hampton, or at the many and various gigs he played around the world, or just down the way from NYC and his gigs there, Thomas always came home to sit in and jam with his fellow musician friends. It's only fitting that we start our film shoot here," she said.
The July 8 concert at Bushnell Park in downtown Hartford will feature Chapin's longtime friends who played with him: bassist/composer Mario Pavone, drummer Steve Johns, trombonist Peter McEachern, and pianist Peter Madsen. It was at this place where Pavone, also a CT native, first heard Thomas Chapin play. Shortly after that eventful meeting, the two joined forces to play and compose together, forming the Thomas Chapin Trio, which during its seven-year run featured several drummers, including Steve Johns.
More about the Concert
The July 8 concert is being produced by the Hartford Jazz Society and kicks off its summer series of free concerts at the Thomas D. Harris IV Pavilion in Bushnell Park. Monday Night Jazz is the nation’s longest-running free jazz concert series and is in its its 46th consecutive season.
Headliners Mario Pavone and his Orange Double Tenor (septet) will play music from their highly acclaimed 2010 and 2011 CDs, Ancestors and Arc Suite respectively. Pavone describes the septet: "It features two powerhouse tenor saxophonists who hail from Connecticut-- Jimmy Greene and Noah Preminger; Austrian-American virtuoso pianist Peter Madsen; master drummer Steve Johns; trumpet whiz Dave Ballou; Connecticut legend, trombonist Peter McEachern; and myself, on bass and compositions."
Pavone added that the group will also play a special arrangement of Thomas Chapin's composition "Sky Piece," arranged by one of Thomas's mentors, the noted jazz saxophonist and educator Paul Jeffrey.
The concert begins at 6 p.m. and will be kicked off by a performance by Rahstet.
More about Chapin
Chapin first emerged in the mid-1980s in New York City after a six-year stint with Lionel Hampton as his lead alto sax and musical director; he was just out of college and in his early twenties. Chapin quickly became known as one of the avant jazz regulars at the Knitting Factory, a famed experimental downtown NYC night spot where he went on to record 8 CDs with his Thomas Chapin Trio. He and the trio were also performing on the big world stages of jazz and Chapin himself with many other jazz ensembles and musical groups. Today Thomas Chapin is in the jazz history books.
"Though he's been gone for 15 years, clearly his music lives on today on radio, in an acclaimed posthumous new release last year, and in the music of others who include tributes to Chapin in their recordings and performances," says Castillo. "Young jazz students are discovering him, and he continues to excite jazz fans new to his music." Castillo, who describes her film as an intimate portrait of a beloved artist, will delve deeply into why his music remains timeless and why his indomitable spirit remains unforgettable. "It will be a tale told by those who knew him best." Besides fellow musicians and critics/writers who followed him, his story will be told on film by his brother, Ted Chapin and Thomas's wife, Terri Chapin, who carries on his legacy.
About the Film Crew
Castillo's film crew will be headed by Hugh Walsh, an award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer from New York City. For the concert shoot, the filmmaker is including second cameraman, Hartford-based Helder Mira, and third cameraman/sound man Richard Dean, from Washington, D.C. Joining the crew will be Greg Laxer (a.k.a. Jazz Officer Spaak) of CT public radio station WWUH 91.3 FM; he will be providing voluntary production assistance. Castillo is the film's writer, director and producer. Working with her to conceptualize the documentary is film editor and NYC native Laura Corwin, a filmmaker who specializes in music videos and music documentaries.
The Rest of the July Shoot
The days following the July 8 concert, Castillo and Walsh will focus on capturing on-camera interviews with Pavone, Madsen, Johns, and McEachern and will visit the Litchfield Jazz Festival's jazz camp, where internationally recognized jazz artists teach alongside Connecticut musicians. Also to be interviewed is WWUH 91.3 FM's Jazz Program Director Chuck Obuchowski, who interviewed Chapin many times during his visits to Hartford. Castillo will also interview in Hartford the famed drummer of the Allman Brothers, Jaimo, who was wowed by Chapin's sax playing and who well-remembers a gig he did with Chapin at Hartford's 880 Club with house band leader Don DePalma, who will also be interviewed.
After Hartford, Castillo and crew will move on to Manhattan and Brooklyn, where she will continue with 15 more on-camera interviews. Interviewees include Ted Chapin; Terri Chapin; the old Knitting Factory's founder, Michael Dorf; Bruce Gallanter of Downtown Music Gallery; music writers Francis Davis, Bob Blumenthal, Larry Blumenfeld and Gene Seymour; Chapin's close, longtime friend and bassist, Arthur Kell; musicians guitarist Saul Rubin, woodwind master Ned Rothenberg, guitarist/engineer Bob Musso, drummer Michael Sarin, and saxophonist Jerry Weldon; educator and bassist Larry Ridley; and Sam Kaufman, Chapin's manager. Other interviews are pending.
Fundraising for the Film
The Hawaii-based Castillo, who is living in Queens while she makes the film, ran a successful online fundraising campaign to raise the needed $50,000 to begin shooting her documentary this summer. The page and its video is still live at
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/290658030/night-bird-song-the-thomas-chapin-story
NIGHT BIRD SONG is slated for a late 2014 finish. She continues to seek funding to keep the project moving forward. 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 # # # #
CONTACT ME 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, NYC, Dallas,
Washington DC Go to photo selections
May, 2013
Shooting begins in July for the Thomas Chapin film project
Thomas Chapin Film Project -- Hawaii-based, EMMY-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo is setting up her film shoots to begin in July. After running a 45-day global fundraising campaign at kickstarter.com to raise $50,000 to begin shooting her feature-length documentary film, NIGHT BIRD SONG: THE THOMAS CHAPIN STORY, she has begun booking interviews for the film and considering shoot locations in New York City area, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Europe (to be shot next year). The Kickstarter campaign ended on March 30 and raised $51,552. The page is still live at
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/290658030/night-bird-song-the-thomas-chapin-story
Castillo's 90-minute documentary film, budgeted at around $300,000 for its production and editing, and slated for a late 2014 finish, will unfold the life of Thomas Chapin, a jazz master who passed away after a year-long battle with leukemia in 1998 at the age of 40. He emerged in the 1980's in New York City's wild and free downtown music scene with a highly original style. After 20 years of a soaring career and 12 CDs, most under the Knitting Factory label, Chapin's short but remarkable career ended but his music has lived on, says Castillo. Today he is in the jazz history books.
Chapin was considered a virtuoso by jazz writers who followed him. He was described as having "monstrous chops" and "full of incredible energy, pushing the needle, never letting up." Critics said he was "moving the music forward." A vanguard in the world of "free" jazz, Chapin embraced all expressions of music. Most notably, he moved easily between the avant-garde and straight-ahead jazz communities; jazz festival promoter John Phillips called him an enormous bridge. Jazz writer Larry Blumenfeld noted: "Chapin is commonly pointed to as one who helped the downtown scene connect with a larger audience and is credited by some as lending a more experimental edge to jazz’s mainstream."
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Castillo, who lives on Kauai, Hawaii and in New York City, is making her 10th documentary and her fourth biography. She has been making documentaries since 1988. Her first documentary, SIMPLE COURAGE: AN HISTORICAL PORTRAIT FOR THE AGE OF AIDS, which aired on PBS, won an EMMY in 1993. Her other film biographies include AN UNCOMMON KINDNESS, the story of St. Damien who worked among Hawaii's leprosy victims in the late 1900's and STRANGE LAND, the story of her mother's coming to America as a World War II war bride from the Philippines.
Chapin was Castillo's friend and her sister Terri Castillo Chapin's husband. "I knew I wanted to make this film when I saw Thomas's obituary in the New York Times and heard music tributes were being played on Boston NPR and on other jazz stations.
"Thomas's story has never been fully told, although many have written about him and he is included in the major encyclopedias of jazz," she says. "I don't know that much about jazz or Thomas as a player, for that matter, so when I began researching him, I asked people who knew him, played with him and wrote about him, 'Should a film about Thomas Chapin be made?' They all emphatically said, 'Yes. Absolutely.' And then I said, 'Tell me why.' What they told me compelled me to want to create this film."
MORE ABOUT CHAPIN
Straight out of college, and thanks to the recommendation of his mentor and educator at Rutgers University, jazz master Paul Jeffrey, Chapin went on to tour with Lionel Hampton as his lead alto sax and musical director. This was followed by a two-year stint as saxophonist with the legendary drummer Chico Hamilton, before forming his own Thomas Chapin Trio, which had a long, eight-year stint (1989 to 1997), playing all over the world. His following in Europe grew as the Knitting Factory jazz tours and George Wein's Festival Productions put the Thomas Chapin Trio and staged concerts for thousands.
MORE ABOUT THE FILM
The film, says Castillo, also will show the competitive environment and the comraderie built that Chapin thrived in with his Trio and other groups as he came to play on the big jazz stages of the world, including a milestone performance at the 1995 Newport Jazz Festival, which was later broadcast on PBS. The ever-elusive reach for wider recognition will be profoundly explored, says Castillo. Chapin's friend and colleague, bassist Mario Pavone says, “As Thomas told me, the plane was just gaining altitude." Castillo added, "Thomas had some other big challenges. The film will also explore how Thomas had a childhood heart condition that was active and ever-present throughout his performing life, how he overcame his personal struggle with alcohol as well as the hard- won battle to gain his parents' approval for a career that went against their conservative New England traditions and expectations.
"Music will fill the screen in this film," says the filmmaker, "because Thomas was music, and music was Thomas. When the illness took its toll, his greater pain was living without the strength to play as he had done every day of his life. But 12 days before he passed, as my film will show, there would come one last triumphant moment -- the culmination of a life lived to its fullest, through music. He said it was his first love."
Castillo notes, "It's been 15 years since his passing. I want to tell his story before it is too late, before memories of him fade, and before an important piece of history is lost. I love telling stories about people who stand out, who contribute something enduring to our society, who took the way of 'the road less traveled' and took it, and left their unforgettable mark. Clearly, Thomas was totally unique, an iconoclast who followed his own musical path. I feel it's time to tell his story."
Castillo has begun crafting a shooting script with a New York film editor. Her first shoots are planned for July in Hartford, CT and NYC, the primary locations where Chapin lived and played -- NYC for its uptown and downtown scenes for all of his jazz career; the Hartford, Conn. area where Chapin was from and where he continuously visited, joining local musician friends at major jazz clubs. Later shoots will be in Massachusetts at Phillips Academy Andover, where Chapin attended high school and was introduced to jazz, setting him on his career path in music; and New Jersey's Rutgers University where Chapin completed his jazz studies with mentor and saxophone master Paul Jeffrey. At this time, she is also seeking and amassing archival performance footage.
She continues to seek funding and raise funds to keep the project moving forward. All donations 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
THOMAS CHAPIN FILM PROJECT LAUNCHES SHOOTING IN HARTFORD, CT
NYC film crew to shoot July 8 jazz concert and interviews.
The late Thomas Chapin in 1996.
Thomas Chapin Film Project - July, 2013 -- The moving story of Connecticut native and NYC jazz man, the late Thomas Chapin, will begin to unfold for documentary film cameras starting July 8 at a Hartford, CT concert, which will feature musicians who knew him and played with him during his short but remarkable 20-year musical career.
Chapin, who passed away in 1998 from leukemia, is the subject of EMMY Award-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo's 10th documentary. He is remembered as a brilliant bandleader, composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his energetic and virtuosic playing of alto sax and flute. He battled leukemia for a year before he died 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, unique in jazz for the 80's and 90's, was just gaining the interest of major record labels.
Castillo decided to begin her shooting of the planned 90-minute NIGHT BIRD SONG: THE THOMAS CHAPIN STORY in the greater Hartford area, where Chapin was born and played in all his musical life. "When he was on the road with Lionel Hampton, or at the many and various gigs he played around the world, or just down the way from NYC and his gigs there, Thomas always came home to sit in and jam with his fellow musician friends. It's only fitting that we start our film shoot here," she said.
The July 8 concert at Bushnell Park in downtown Hartford will feature Chapin's longtime friends who played with him: bassist/composer Mario Pavone, drummer Steve Johns, trombonist Peter McEachern, and pianist Peter Madsen. It was at this place where Pavone, also a CT native, first heard Thomas Chapin play. Shortly after that eventful meeting, the two joined forces to play and compose together, forming the Thomas Chapin Trio, which during its seven-year run featured several drummers, including Steve Johns.
More about the Concert
The July 8 concert is being produced by the Hartford Jazz Society and kicks off its summer series of free concerts at the Thomas D. Harris IV Pavilion in Bushnell Park. Monday Night Jazz is the nation’s longest-running free jazz concert series and is in its its 46th consecutive season.
Headliners Mario Pavone and his Orange Double Tenor (septet) will play music from their highly acclaimed 2010 and 2011 CDs, Ancestors and Arc Suite respectively. Pavone describes the septet: "It features two powerhouse tenor saxophonists who hail from Connecticut-- Jimmy Greene and Noah Preminger; Austrian-American virtuoso pianist Peter Madsen; master drummer Steve Johns; trumpet whiz Dave Ballou; Connecticut legend, trombonist Peter McEachern; and myself, on bass and compositions."
Pavone added that the group will also play a special arrangement of Thomas Chapin's composition "Sky Piece," arranged by one of Thomas's mentors, the noted jazz saxophonist and educator Paul Jeffrey.
The concert begins at 6 p.m. and will be kicked off by a performance by Rahstet.
More about Chapin
Chapin first emerged in the mid-1980s in New York City after a six-year stint with Lionel Hampton as his lead alto sax and musical director; he was just out of college and in his early twenties. Chapin quickly became known as one of the avant jazz regulars at the Knitting Factory, a famed experimental downtown NYC night spot where he went on to record 8 CDs with his Thomas Chapin Trio. He and the trio were also performing on the big world stages of jazz and Chapin himself with many other jazz ensembles and musical groups. Today Thomas Chapin is in the jazz history books.
"Though he's been gone for 15 years, clearly his music lives on today on radio, in an acclaimed posthumous new release last year, and in the music of others who include tributes to Chapin in their recordings and performances," says Castillo. "Young jazz students are discovering him, and he continues to excite jazz fans new to his music." Castillo, who describes her film as an intimate portrait of a beloved artist, will delve deeply into why his music remains timeless and why his indomitable spirit remains unforgettable. "It will be a tale told by those who knew him best." Besides fellow musicians and critics/writers who followed him, his story will be told on film by his brother, Ted Chapin and Thomas's wife, Terri Chapin, who carries on his legacy.
About the Film Crew
Castillo's film crew will be headed by Hugh Walsh, an award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer from New York City. For the concert shoot, the filmmaker is including second cameraman, Hartford-based Helder Mira, and third cameraman/sound man Richard Dean, from Washington, D.C. Joining the crew will be Greg Laxer (a.k.a. Jazz Officer Spaak) of CT public radio station WWUH 91.3 FM; he will be providing voluntary production assistance. Castillo is the film's writer, director and producer. Working with her to conceptualize the documentary is film editor and NYC native Laura Corwin, a filmmaker who specializes in music videos and music documentaries.
The Rest of the July Shoot
The days following the July 8 concert, Castillo and Walsh will focus on capturing on-camera interviews with Pavone, Madsen, Johns, and McEachern and will visit the Litchfield Jazz Festival's jazz camp, where internationally recognized jazz artists teach alongside Connecticut musicians. Also to be interviewed is WWUH 91.3 FM's Jazz Program Director Chuck Obuchowski, who interviewed Chapin many times during his visits to Hartford. Castillo will also interview in Hartford the famed drummer of the Allman Brothers, Jaimo, who was wowed by Chapin's sax playing and who well-remembers a gig he did with Chapin at Hartford's 880 Club with house band leader Don DePalma, who will also be interviewed.
After Hartford, Castillo and crew will move on to Manhattan and Brooklyn, where she will continue with 15 more on-camera interviews. Interviewees include Ted Chapin; Terri Chapin; the old Knitting Factory's founder, Michael Dorf; Bruce Gallanter of Downtown Music Gallery; music writers Francis Davis, Bob Blumenthal, Larry Blumenfeld and Gene Seymour; Chapin's close, longtime friend and bassist, Arthur Kell; musicians guitarist Saul Rubin, woodwind master Ned Rothenberg, guitarist/engineer Bob Musso, drummer Michael Sarin, and saxophonist Jerry Weldon; educator and bassist Larry Ridley; and Sam Kaufman, Chapin's manager. Other interviews are pending.
Fundraising for the Film
The Hawaii-based Castillo, who is living in Queens while she makes the film, ran a successful online fundraising campaign to raise the needed $50,000 to begin shooting her documentary this summer. The page and its video is still live at
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/290658030/night-bird-song-the-thomas-chapin-story
NIGHT BIRD SONG is slated for a late 2014 finish. She continues to seek funding to keep the project moving forward. 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 # # # #
CONTACT ME 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, NYC, Dallas,
Washington DC Go to photo selections
May, 2013
Shooting begins in July for the Thomas Chapin film project
Thomas Chapin Film Project -- Hawaii-based, EMMY-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo is setting up her film shoots to begin in July. After running a 45-day global fundraising campaign at kickstarter.com to raise $50,000 to begin shooting her feature-length documentary film, NIGHT BIRD SONG: THE THOMAS CHAPIN STORY, she has begun booking interviews for the film and considering shoot locations in New York City area, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Europe (to be shot next year). The Kickstarter campaign ended on March 30 and raised $51,552. The page is still live at
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/290658030/night-bird-song-the-thomas-chapin-story
Castillo's 90-minute documentary film, budgeted at around $300,000 for its production and editing, and slated for a late 2014 finish, will unfold the life of Thomas Chapin, a jazz master who passed away after a year-long battle with leukemia in 1998 at the age of 40. He emerged in the 1980's in New York City's wild and free downtown music scene with a highly original style. After 20 years of a soaring career and 12 CDs, most under the Knitting Factory label, Chapin's short but remarkable career ended but his music has lived on, says Castillo. Today he is in the jazz history books.
Chapin was considered a virtuoso by jazz writers who followed him. He was described as having "monstrous chops" and "full of incredible energy, pushing the needle, never letting up." Critics said he was "moving the music forward." A vanguard in the world of "free" jazz, Chapin embraced all expressions of music. Most notably, he moved easily between the avant-garde and straight-ahead jazz communities; jazz festival promoter John Phillips called him an enormous bridge. Jazz writer Larry Blumenfeld noted: "Chapin is commonly pointed to as one who helped the downtown scene connect with a larger audience and is credited by some as lending a more experimental edge to jazz’s mainstream."
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Castillo, who lives on Kauai, Hawaii and in New York City, is making her 10th documentary and her fourth biography. She has been making documentaries since 1988. Her first documentary, SIMPLE COURAGE: AN HISTORICAL PORTRAIT FOR THE AGE OF AIDS, which aired on PBS, won an EMMY in 1993. Her other film biographies include AN UNCOMMON KINDNESS, the story of St. Damien who worked among Hawaii's leprosy victims in the late 1900's and STRANGE LAND, the story of her mother's coming to America as a World War II war bride from the Philippines.
Chapin was Castillo's friend and her sister Terri Castillo Chapin's husband. "I knew I wanted to make this film when I saw Thomas's obituary in the New York Times and heard music tributes were being played on Boston NPR and on other jazz stations.
"Thomas's story has never been fully told, although many have written about him and he is included in the major encyclopedias of jazz," she says. "I don't know that much about jazz or Thomas as a player, for that matter, so when I began researching him, I asked people who knew him, played with him and wrote about him, 'Should a film about Thomas Chapin be made?' They all emphatically said, 'Yes. Absolutely.' And then I said, 'Tell me why.' What they told me compelled me to want to create this film."
MORE ABOUT CHAPIN
Straight out of college, and thanks to the recommendation of his mentor and educator at Rutgers University, jazz master Paul Jeffrey, Chapin went on to tour with Lionel Hampton as his lead alto sax and musical director. This was followed by a two-year stint as saxophonist with the legendary drummer Chico Hamilton, before forming his own Thomas Chapin Trio, which had a long, eight-year stint (1989 to 1997), playing all over the world. His following in Europe grew as the Knitting Factory jazz tours and George Wein's Festival Productions put the Thomas Chapin Trio and staged concerts for thousands.
MORE ABOUT THE FILM
The film, says Castillo, also will show the competitive environment and the comraderie built that Chapin thrived in with his Trio and other groups as he came to play on the big jazz stages of the world, including a milestone performance at the 1995 Newport Jazz Festival, which was later broadcast on PBS. The ever-elusive reach for wider recognition will be profoundly explored, says Castillo. Chapin's friend and colleague, bassist Mario Pavone says, “As Thomas told me, the plane was just gaining altitude." Castillo added, "Thomas had some other big challenges. The film will also explore how Thomas had a childhood heart condition that was active and ever-present throughout his performing life, how he overcame his personal struggle with alcohol as well as the hard- won battle to gain his parents' approval for a career that went against their conservative New England traditions and expectations.
"Music will fill the screen in this film," says the filmmaker, "because Thomas was music, and music was Thomas. When the illness took its toll, his greater pain was living without the strength to play as he had done every day of his life. But 12 days before he passed, as my film will show, there would come one last triumphant moment -- the culmination of a life lived to its fullest, through music. He said it was his first love."
Castillo notes, "It's been 15 years since his passing. I want to tell his story before it is too late, before memories of him fade, and before an important piece of history is lost. I love telling stories about people who stand out, who contribute something enduring to our society, who took the way of 'the road less traveled' and took it, and left their unforgettable mark. Clearly, Thomas was totally unique, an iconoclast who followed his own musical path. I feel it's time to tell his story."
Castillo has begun crafting a shooting script with a New York film editor. Her first shoots are planned for July in Hartford, CT and NYC, the primary locations where Chapin lived and played -- NYC for its uptown and downtown scenes for all of his jazz career; the Hartford, Conn. area where Chapin was from and where he continuously visited, joining local musician friends at major jazz clubs. Later shoots will be in Massachusetts at Phillips Academy Andover, where Chapin attended high school and was introduced to jazz, setting him on his career path in music; and New Jersey's Rutgers University where Chapin completed his jazz studies with mentor and saxophone master Paul Jeffrey. At this time, she is also seeking and amassing archival performance footage.
She continues to seek funding and raise funds to keep the project moving forward. All donations 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