Jim Chapin

---

title: "Jim Chapin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1919-births", "2009-deaths", "20th-century-american-drummers", "american-male-drummers", "american-jazz-drummers", "american-jazz-musicians", "jazz-musicians-from-new-york-city", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "american-male-jazz-musicians", "chapin-family-(show-business)", "drum-educators", "drummers-from-new-york-city"] description: "American jazz drummer (1919–2009)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Chapin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American jazz drummer (1919–2009) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Jim Chapin
image	Jim_chapin_2.jpg
image_size	200
caption	Chapin in 2006
birth_date
birth_place	New York City, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.
genre	Jazz
occupation
instrument	Drums
module	{{Infobox person
child	yes
father	James Ormsbee Chapin
mother	Abigail Forbes
children	10, including Harry, Tom, and Steve
family	Kenneth Burke (father-in-law)
Jen Chapin, Chapin Sisters (granddaughters)
Samuel Chapin (descendant)
::

| name = Jim Chapin | image = Jim_chapin_2.jpg | image_upright = | image_size = 200 | caption = Chapin in 2006 | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Fort Myers, Florida, U.S. | genre = Jazz | occupation = | instrument = Drums | module = {{Infobox person | child = yes | father = James Ormsbee Chapin | mother = Abigail Forbes | children = 10, including Harry, Tom, and Steve | family = Kenneth Burke (father-in-law) Jen Chapin, Chapin Sisters (granddaughters) Samuel Chapin (descendant) James Forbes Chapin ( ) (July 23, 1919 – July 4, 2009) was an American jazz drummer and the author of books about jazz drumming. He is in the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame and was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2011.

Early life

Chapin was born in Manhattan, New York, the son of Abigail Forbes and painter James Ormsbee Chapin. Chapin first played piano and clarinet, and left college at the age of 18, when he started to play the drums, studying with Sanford Moeller.

Later life and career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Jim_chapin_1.jpg" caption="Chapin at the 2006 [[NAMM Show"] ::

After stints in an assortment of bands, Chapin played with Red Norvo in 1943.

Chapin coined the term "coordinated independence" to describe the skill of a drummer where "both hands and feet are performing parts which are rhythmically independent from one another". His Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer textbook was published in 1948. At the time, it was perhaps the only such book targeted only at drummers. In 2009, a writer for Drum! magazine wrote that it was "arguably the most important drum set text ever written".

In 1954, Chapin led a band that played weekly at Birdland in New York City; this continued into 1956. His sextet of Don Stratton (trumpet), Billy Byers (trombone), Phil Woods (alto sax), Sonny Truitt (piano), and Chuck Andrus (bass) recorded the album Jim Chapin Ensemble in 1954; it was reissued in expanded form as The Jim Chapin Sextet around 1960. The following year, he led an octet of Jimmy Nottingham (trumpet), Urbie Green (trombone), Bob Wilber (tenor sax), Phil Woods and George Dorsey (alto sax), Hank Jones (piano), and Wilbur Ware (bass) that recorded Profile of a Jazz Drummer. Chapin played with bassist Marshall Grant between 1958 and 1960.

For eight months from October 1968, Chapin taught drummer Gene Krupa weekly, helping Krupa in his recovery following emphysema. In 1971, Chapin's Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Volume II was published.

Chapin traveled around the world teaching and presenting seminars, including teaching Peter Criss, after he left the group Kiss in the early 1980s. Chapin also gave Alex Van Halen of the rock band Van Halen a lesson. A Chapin instructional video, Speed, Power, Control, Endurance, was released in 1992. Chapin died in Florida on July 4, 2009.

References

References

1. "Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2014". [[Modern Drummer]].
2. (10 July 2009). "James Forbes Chapin Obiturary".
3. Wynn, Ron. "Jim Chapin Biography".
4. Brennan, Matt. (2020). "Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit". Oxford University Press.
5. Packman, Jeff. (2016). "The Cambridge Companion to Percussion". Cambridge University Press.
6. Panken, Ted. (December 2016). "Phil Woods: 'A Soldier for Jazz'".
7. "Jim Chapin: Jim Chapin Sextet & Octet Featuring Phil Woods (3 LP on 1 CD)".
8. (January 18, 1960). "Reviews and Ratings of New Albums".
9. Korall, Burt. (2002). "Drummin' Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz, the Swing Years". Oxford University Press.
10. Criss, Peter. "The Legendary Jim Chapin".
11. "Alex Van Halen joins Nicko McBrain, & David Frangioni for the Season Finale of Metal Sticks".
12. Birenbaum, Rob. (July 6, 2009). "Legendary Drum Instructor Jim Chapin Dies".

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