Jim Chapin, legendary jazz drummer and educator, died on July 4, 2009 in Florida. He was a few weeks shy of 90 years old.
Mr. Chapin was born in New York City in 1919. His father was James Ormsbee Chapin, an artist of the American Scene school of painting and his mother was Abigail Forbes Chapin, a teacher, and writer.
Mr. Chapin did not begin playing the drums until he was 18 years old, after being inspired by legendary drummer Gene Krupa. He studied the instrument passionately and within two years he was playing opposite Krupa at the 1939 World’s Fair.
In the early 1940s, Mr. Chapin began working on a drum instruction book that was eventually published in 1948 as “Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Volume I, Coordinated Independence as Applied to Jazz and Be-Bop.” Still in print today, it became known among drummers simply as “The Chapin Book” and is arguably the most important drum set text ever written.
From the 1940s through the 1960s, Mr. Chapin performed and toured with a variety of bands, including Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra and groups led by the likes of Mike Riley, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, and Tony Pastor. He also performed on occasion with his sons, Tom, Steve, and the late Harry Chapin who was one of the top singer-songwriters of the 1970s. And he led his own bands well into his 80s.
During the past 25 years, Mr. Chapin found a second career, as he was discovered by a new generation of musicians that hungered for his depth of knowledge on drummers and drumming. He spent his time traveling around the world teaching and presenting seminars and he was a fixture at music trade shows and percussion conventions. In 1994, Mr. Chapin received two honors for his contributions to music and education: the American Eagle Award, presented by the National Music Council in Washington and a lifetime achievement award from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. And in 1995, he was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
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by Rob Birenbaum
