Thomas and My Last Double Band CDby Ned Rothenberg, multi-reedist extraordinaire, prolific composer, colleague and dear friend of Thomas Chapin

When Thomas had the fire it really took him somewhere. I’ll always see him as he finishes a solo looking over at me for some cue, ready to go on now that he has returned. He thought of me as a musical scientist, and certainly I was the one of more analytic bent. But Thomas was a rare fellow, highly intelligent, full of arcane knowledge (“don’t be trying to help me with this crossword puzzle!”), a searcher after all those unknowable truths, and yet beneath it all, not really an ‘intellectual’ in the conventional sense. He would always rather just do something than talk about or around it. Just like his playing, always direct, just what it was, the man singing, the pure improviser.

Double Band was a special context, each player set off against another playing the same instrument, not in competition (ever!) but to make strength out of unity and contrast. It was most special with Thomas and me, he was there from the inception, and now that he’s gone this group will never be the same.

I just loved it when other horn players (it always seemed to be horn players) would come up and say “Wow, man, you’ve got a lot of balls having someone playing that much alto in your band.” The people who were just listening and not looking for some vibe never questioned it – they could hear the richness Thomas added to the music and how distinct his playing was from mine. What did folks think I would want, ‘Ned Rothenberg Lite’ on the other chair? No, it was always about music, about being challenged to express oneself. Thomas was ALWAYS himself and it kept my focus straight. I may have composed all these thorny charts, but when it came time to play, the analyst had to take a seat and the player had to play.

There are so many cliches that we use to deal with loss. “Let us be thankful for having known this person, for sharing their quest in this life, etc., etc.” Certainly, the world is a better place, and music is richer for Thomas Chapin having spent his time here. But I know I speak for many of his friends and colleagues and am quite sure I speak for Thomas himself when I express my bitterness that his life was cut short. His art was in mid-ascent, he’d had no chance to to come full circle creatively. This was one of the warmest and most genuine human beings I’ve ever known. He had so many more goals left to seek and all the equipment ready for the journey.

Its another cliche, “never say never”, but I don’t think I’ll do any more composing for this instrumentation. I think this is the last Double Band CD. I’ll be happy to play this music as repertory, there are many wonderful saxophonists who I’m sure can do a great job with it. But that special period of cooperative genesis has passed with my man, Mr. Thomas Chapin, and for me its time to move on…

Liner Notes to Double Band Parting (Moers 03012)
written by Ned Rothenberg in 1998
photo: DBand in Venice : L to R -Jerome Harris, Michael Sarin, Samm Bennett, Tony Scherr, Thomas Chapin, Ned Rothenberg