By OWEN McNALLY; Courant Jazz Critic
January 31, 1998
All the world was Thomas Chapin's oyster last January as the globe-trotting, 39- year-old jazz saxophonist, flutist and composer was happily touring Uganda and Tanzania.
The Manchester native, who honed his formidable skills in Hartford jazz spots as a kid, served his national apprenticeship as a wunderkind musical director for jazz legend Lionel Hampton's big band from 1981 to 1986 and a swinging sideman for drummer Chico Hamilton in the late '80s.
In recent years, Chapin moved from such coveted mainstream employment to make his mark on the cutting-edge jazz scene with his acclaimed series of almost a dozen recordings on the Arabesque and Knitting Factory Works labels. The New York Times has hailed him as ""a virtuoso. . .one of the more schooled musicians in jazz, both technically and historically.'' National critics felt he was a star on the rise, poised to land a contract with a major record label.
But suddenly, in Africa, Chapin, the perpetual picture of health and a robust improviser, became stricken with a mysterious fever and loss of strength. Returning quickly to the United States, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a disease in which malignant cancer cells are found in the blood and bone marrow. Since then he's been in and out of the hospital, and undergone chemotherapy and blood transfusions. He's also tapped into such nontraditional care as herbal diet, acupuncture and consultation with a Tibetan healer.
Chapin has been too ill to work since his last gig in August at the Knitting Factory, the noted avant-garde bastion in lower Manhattan. Meanwhile, his ""massive medical expenses have busted'' his insurance coverage, says his good friend and longtime collaborator, bassist Mario Pavone.
To help out, many of Chapin's friends and colleagues will perform in a benefit concert for him Sunday at 5 p.m. at Cheney Hall, in his hometown of Manchester.
Dozens of musicians have donated their services for the marathon called ""In Harmony: A Vision Shared.'' The lineup includes The Thomas Chapin Trio & Brass (with Marty Ehrlich subbing for Chapin), the Peter Madsen Trio, the Don DePalma Group, Motation and Paradigm Shift.
"This response is just so amazingly beautiful. If I'm physically able, I'll be there," Chapin says by phone from his Manhattan apartment.
"I was supposed to be in Africa for five weeks last January. But I got sick, came home and found out it was this nasty thing. Not in a million years would you dream you would get some horrible thing like this. It just happens quickly. Usually people discover it just in a routine blood test, or when they start bruising," he says.
Chapin turned 40 last March, just two days after entering the hospital, gravely ill. Musician friends gave him a birthday party in his room and stayed by his bedside on half-day shifts.
In a more recent hospital stay, Chapin married his longtime sweetheart, Terri Castillo, an editor/filmmaker, who has had to take time off from work to care for him for several months.
"Things were really poppin' for us before Thomas became ill," says Pavone, a collaborator in Chapin's trio recordings.
Performances at leading jazz festivals and other gigs had to be shelved. A new release by the trio, "Sky Piece," will be released soon. Pavone believes it is their best ever, an artistic breakthrough. But Chapin's battle with leukemia has put everything on hold from day to day.