Bill Chapman Trio

We are pleased to welcome the BILL CHAPMAN TRIO to the Sing for your Slumber stage for a chill evening of fireside jazz grooves.

Bill Chapman has created a career in music – both in performance and in teaching – that has allowed him to showcase his raw talent and natural ability, share his passion and excitement for the art, and also shape and shake up the local music scene.

Music is something that Chapman says he craves. He expertly combines beats and rhythm into a powerful language, a self-described self-expression, which speaks of his passion for jazz and is most obvious when he is drumming. His percussion is inspired, and the sound resonates from someplace deeper than discipline or dedication alone. He is uninhibited and he plays with a devotion to the sound and style that can be heard in every groove.

Chapman is a musician, but he is also a dedicated teacher, director, and conductor. Through collaboration, Chapman has garnered the attention of established musicians in the field. He has worked to make the music that he calls “powerful and inspiring.” Chapman says that collaboration is so powerful because “in jazz it’s never the same song twice.” In 2007, Chapman experienced this first-hand while teaming up with John Medeski – of Medeski, Martin & Wood – on a commissioned work for Nickelodeon as part of the Pittsfield Jazz Festival, in Pittsfield, Ma. Chapman has worked with several established musicians, and, through his own performance, he has gained the respect of renowned musicians including Tom Gauger, of the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops.

Gauger said:
“Having heard a lot of drummers during my 42 years as a percussionist in the Boston Pops, including Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Steve Gadd… I’m having a lot of fun listing to other drummers who may not be so well known but have a lot of promise… [Chapman] is a master at cross-rhythms, has many sounds, and a good feel for Latin tunes… played nice solos but he never got in the way… he was never overpowering, and was always tasty as he added texture to some great tunes. Probably the best attribute is his natural character that came out in his playing… Something that not every drummer has. He was having a good time, and so did we.”