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James Forbes Chapin American citizen born on 23 July 1919 and raised in New York. He was a jazz drummer and author of the text of several books popular jazz drums. Two of his first book of which are Advanced Techniques for Modern Drummer, Vol. I, and Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol.2. He also wrote several albums (later converted to a CD) jazz drums, as well as 2 other albums titled Songs, Solo, Stories (Vol 1 and 2).
Jim Chapin has not been so serious about the drums until he was 18 years old. Having been inspired by legendary drummer Gene Krupa in 1938, Jim Chapin began to obey the urge to have a set of drums and learning the art of playing drums with the more serious. Jim Chapin is a student from Ben Silver and a rudimentalist Sanford A. Moeller who discovered and popularized the Moeller method. In the early 1940s, Jim Chapin began working on a drum instruction book that eventually was published in 1948 under the title Advanced Techniques for Modern Drummer, Volume I, Coordinated independence. The book discusses the independence techniques applied to Jazz and Be-Bop. This book has been known as a coordinated independence for the jazz drummer.
Exercises and concepts like this become perbicangan exclamation among the drummer at the time. They feel they should have a pair of drumsticks in his back pocket at any time if called upon to demonstrate a very difficult and to prove that he could actually play each pattern in the book. Still in print today, the book became known among drummers simply as "The Chapin Book" and arguably is the most important drum text ever written.
Late that year Jim left Riley to rejoin Babe Russin for a Miami job at Slapsy Maxie’s, that folded in mid-February 1941 because of gambling difficulties. That June Jim played a few weeks with Van Alexander and then spent the next six months with Tommy Reynolds, an up-and-coming name at the time. In December ’41, Jim decided to get off the road for a while, so he got a job at Child’s Paramount with Henry Jerome, who was just starting to change styles from commercial to jazz (a trend rapidly reversed after the war) and stayed there until Flip Phillips and Larry Bennett persuaded his to join Bennett’s group at the hickory house in early June of ’42.
Jim had a ball with this small group which, during that year worked as a unit with Wingy Monone in Boston and again with Wingy and Mildred bailey in Georgia before returning to the hickory house for the spring of ’43. By this time, Jim’s preoccupation with the “stuttering” left hand was attracting some attention and Jim and flip would often carry on a musical Morse code conversation between tenor snare drum. Larry was drafted in the summer of ’43 so the group dissolved and Jim soon went back with Henry Jerome who’s band was now a full sized Roarer with Billy Bauer on the guitar, Chauncey Welch on trombone, Charlie Genduso on trumpet and jobs at the pelham heath inn, the Lincoln hotel and Loew’s state theatre. Jim thanks to Flip also started rehearsing with red Norvo’s coca cola band, a USO idea that never really got off the ground. Jim’s draft board got to him about this time, November ’43 and in spite of sons age 2 and 1 shipped him off to fort Dix where he spent several weeks playing in a band with George Duvivier, George Koenig and wild Bill Davison, protected from the horrors of K.P. by captain HY gardener. Finally he was sent to the band at Morris field, where for a year and a half he fort the battle of charlotte, N.C., thence to lake Charles, Louisiana in June ’45, where he remained until discharged in November.
These were not overly rewarding years musically but Jim does feels very lucky that at least he had his instrument with him and a good deal of time to practise. He feels that he might not have carried the theory of independent coordination so far had he been engaged in more satisfying and demanding swinging the winter of ’45 – ’46 was a time of development and Jim came back to find Jazz music irrevocably changed. The skills that he had developed were now something that could be more freely exploited. Characteristically, however, he did little to push himself into the Jazz scene and instead took a job at the Acadia ballroom that lasted till late ’46. At this time he joined the closely knit rhythm in the resurgent casa loma band. This great section, which included Joe shulman or Barney Spieler, Bass, Tommy Morganelli, Guitar, and Tony Nicoletti, Piano, only did about six months with Glen Grey, but Jim stayed on until the band broke up for the first time in December ’47.
Then, following the sun and close friends to Atlanta, Georgia, of all places, he put in one of the least lucrative but happiest periods of his life, playing with bassist Red Wootan and pianist Freddy Deland, with various horn men upfront. Most important, perhaps, he met Lew Swain, and executive of the Ozalid Company, which makes reproduction machines for printed matter. Lew persuaded him to put his long deferred book into final form, and offered help and the use of his machines to publish his book. Returning to New York in September 1948, Jim began to teach at the Brooklyn conservatory of modern music. When he first showed his new book around, he always had to carry drumsticks in his pocket.
The frequent comment was “Man, who’s gonna play this?” (By now quite a few of the greatest names in drumming have played or are playing it.) Jim was always ready to oblige with a concert on newspapers, Knees or car fenders, Jim soon tired of the New York bustle and in the fall of ’49 returned to Atlanta for a year and two months (just long enough to lose all of his New York contacts.) This time he says, some of the playing was the best he had done, and most of it was the worst. Coming north again in coming ’51 he worked with Barbara Carroll for a while then went to the coast for the summer with Tony Pastor where he did a few dates at the light house at Hermosa Beach with Howard Rumsey, Shortey Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre.
Meanwhile Red Wooten by that time with Woody Herman, had Woody get Jim as Sonny Igoes substitute for four months that autumn. A brief episode with Tom Dorsey in the early spring of ’52 and Jim went back with Tony pastor in May and stayed until November 1953. Finally getting sick of the “road” Jim organised a sextet for some jobs that never came about but one Monday night in Birdland in late ’53 lead to twenty or thirty more over the next four years. Mainstays of the group were Phil woods, Don Stratton, Sonny Triutt and Chuck Andrus. Frequent participants included Urbie Green, Billy Byers, Johnny Williams and Nat Pierce. Luckily, the group recorded, before dispending, and may be heard on classic Jazz LP cj6, featuring arrangements by Jim, Phil Woods and Sonny.
In early ’54 Jim started teaching at Hartnett national studios and started also to work some dates for the Lester Lanin office. Later that same year Lanin developed a format for his debutante parties that included a Jazz show at some time during those evenings’ proceedings. This usually meant that Jim and Jonah Jones would arrive at the party about 2am, Solo furiously for about twenty minutes and then leave, at which time the band would revert to society tempo till unconscious. These outbursts were a regular feature of the December and June seasons for several years until Jonah came out into his own.
Jim also did a few musical shows mainly for Peter Matz, including the “amazing Adele” and extravaganza that’s perished after Philly and Boston. Recently Jim has been with Marshall Grant’s trio, a hard to define group that has worked such diverse NY spots as the maisonette of the St Regis, the St Moritz and the embers. Jim describes it whimsically as a “hard bob society” group. Jim has a particular taste for the locals that Marshall Picks: Southampton, long island in the summer and Palm Beach in the winter. “Name” bands he says it was always Memphis in July and Montréal in February.
