847.254.8750

Creative growth through improvisation

Welcome to the web site of Bill Chapin, jazz pianist and teacher. Bill plays and teaches jazz piano and bass, leads his own jazz combo, and coordinates the Grayslake Jazz Combo Workshop from his creative space, Chapin Jazz Studio. Explore the site and sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about opportunities to learn jazz at the studio and to hear jazz where Bill is playing.

Jazz Combo Workshop Concerts

Come out and hear five jazz combos perform jazz they have learned during the 2019 Grayslake Jazz Combo Workshop. Forty participants have been learning to play and improvise over blues, swing, and Latin jazz standards.

  • Sun, July 14 – 2:00-4:00pm ~ Round Lake Beach Cultural Center Banquet Hall 
  • Thurs, July 18 – 7:30-8:45 pm ~ Round Lake Beach Cultural Center Gazebo (outdoors–bring lawn chair)
  • Tues, July 30 – 6:00-8:00 pm ~ Memorial Jazz Jam Concert – Central Park Pavilion, Grayslake (outdoors–bring lawn chair)
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Drew Chapin Memorial Jazz Jam & Concert

This free concert honors Drew Chapin, who passed away in 2005. He loved the outdoors, promoted peace, and believed in the power of music as our universal language. While this concert is free, your free will donation will support the Drew Chapin Scholarship for Change.

Tuesday, July 30, 6-8 pm, Grayslake Central Park Pavilion Get Directions

Donate to the Scholarship Fund

Chapin Jazz X-tet at Lake House Lake Bluff

Come join the X-tet at the LakeHouse. In April the sextet is featuring jazz tunes about spring, such as Joy Spring, it Might As Well Be Spring, April in Paris, and I’ll Remember April. In May, we will be featuring Latin jazz.

  • Sat 7/13 ~ 6-8 pm
  • Fri 7/19 ~ 6:30-8:30 pm
  • Sat 7/27 ~ 6-8 pm
  • Fri 8/2 ~ 6:30-8:30 pm
  • Sat 8/10 ~ 6-8 pm
  • Fri 8/16 ~ 6:30-8:30 pm
  • Sat 8/24 ~ 6-8 pm
  • Fri 8/30 ~ 6:30-8:30 pm
525 Rockland Road, Lake Bluff IL

Call 847-295-7140 for reservations

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Gigs

The Bill Chapin Jazz X-tet, a combo performing modern jazz, performs regularly in the Chicago area. Playing in formats from one to six pieces, the X-tet provides the sleek sound of solo piano, the pulse of a trio, or the harmonies of a full combo with saxophone, trumpet and trombone. Perfect for upscale dining and lounges, classy cocktail hours and receptions, fundraisers and galas, and corporate events.

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Lessons

The Chapin Jazz Studio offers lessons for the serious jazz pianist, for instrumentalists wanting to learn theory and explore jazz piano, and for anyone wanting to experience the fun of playing jazz piano. The studio also offers a monthly jazz jam session, jazz solo coaching, and instruction on jazz bass and composition. The Grayslake Jazz Combo Workshop, where students study jazz every summer, also calls the studio home.

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Meet Bill Chapin

Bill Chapin has performed as a professional pianist in the Chicago area since 1978 – as a leader of a combo, as a free-lance member of a variety of groups, and as a solo jazz pianist. As a teacher he has coached a succession of jazz pianists and improvisers at Chapin Jazz Studio, where he offers private lessons and other jazz-related learning opportunities. His students range in age from 10 through adult; and for each learner Bill’s goal is “creative growth through improvisation.”
More about Bill Chapin

Drew Chapin Scholarship

The Drew Chapin Memorial Scholarship for Change memorializes Drew Chapin, now deceased, a 2003 graduate of GCHS who lived his life consciously and was committed to family, the pursuit of knowledge, respect for all persons and cultures, peace, and celebrating life. The scholarship honors Grayslake Central High School students who are knowledgeable about national and international social problems and have a personal philosophy about what actions they might take to improve some aspect of our world.

Funds for the annual $2,000 scholarship are raised through the Drew Chapin Memorial Jazz Jam and Concert, held in August. At this annual concert area jazz musicians hold a jazz jam session and concert at the Grayslake Central Park Pavilion.

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