Jim Chapin

James Forbes "Jim" Chapin (July 23, 1919 – July 4, 2009) was an American (New York born and bred) jazz drummer and the author of popular texts on jazz drumming, the first two volumes of which are Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. I, and Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. II. (A third volume is planned.) He was also the author of several albums (later converted to CDs) on jazz drumming, as well as 2 CDs entitled Jim Chapin: Songs, Solos, Stories (Vols. 1 and 2).

Early life
Chapin was the son of Abigail Forbes and James Ormsbee Chapin. Chapin did not begin playing the drums until he was 18 years old, after being inspired by legendary drummer Gene Krupa. Jim left William and Mary College in early 1938 after skipping classes regularly in order to obey a massive compulsion to batter a set of drums that a classmate had left set up in the gymnasium. Chapin was a student of Ben Silver and Sanford A. Moeller, renowned rudimentalist, who popularized the Moeller method, and within two years he was playing opposite Krupa at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. I
In the early 1940s, 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.” This book has been known as "the definitive study on coordinated independence" for jazz drummers. After the release of the book, he carried a pair of drumsticks in his back pocket at all times in case he was called upon to demonstrate a particularly difficult passage so as to prove that every pattern in the book could be played. Still in print today, it became known among drummers simply as “The Chapin Book.”

Career
From the 1940s through the 1960s, 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 on a career high as one of the more notable singer-songwriters of the 1970s and a founding member of the World Hunger Year. And he led his own bands well into his 80s.

Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. II
Many of the great drummers in the past 60 years have paid their dues with The Chapin Book, which is the much-imitated, standard work on the subject. In 1971, Chapin published “Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Volume II, Independence–The Open End”, a work subsidized by his son Harry. The book was a monumental undertaking that utilizes overlays to illustrate its complex points. In the preface of this work, Chapin admitted that even he could not play every pattern that is presented, thus getting him relieved of the demand to prove that everything printed can actually be executed. Volume II was considered ahead of its time nearly 40 years ago and it is still considered modern today.

Some of Chapin’s techniques were captured on an instructional video first released in 1992 called “Speed, Power, Control, Endurance”, which is now available on DVD. In this video, Chapin spent the entire time on a practice pad, demonstrating the methods of his instructor, Sanford Moeller, of which he was evangelistic about and to which he attributed his longevity as a drummer. It was Mr. Chapin’s mission to get as many drummers as possible to utilize The Moeller Method to get the maximum results from the minimum effort, thus avoiding fatigue and injuries.

Chapin taught the Moeller Method of drumming to Dom Famularo, Cesar Zuiderwijk, Claus Hessler and Thomas Lang, as well as many other drummers over his 60-year career. Chapin was friends with drummer and fellow Moeller method users Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich.

Later years
Chapin continued traveling around the world teaching and presenting seminars. 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.

He was the father of ten children, including musicians Harry, Tom (not to be confused with Thomas Chapin) and Steve Chapin, who are also the children of Elspeth Hart, the daughter of Kenneth Burke. He was the grandfather of Jen Chapin and two of the three members of the Chapin Sisters group. He was the direct descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin. Jim Chapin died on July 4, 2009 in Florida a few weeks shy of 90 years old.