©2013 Purple Chair Music (ASCAP) http://jenchapin.com
a social movements anthem, from the 2013 Purple Chair Music CD/LP release "Reckoning."
Produced/Engineered/Mixed by Kevin Killen, mastered by Bob Ludwig
Featuring: 
Stephan Crump – electric bass
Liberty Ellman -- guitar
Jamie Fox – guitar
Dan Rieser – drums & percussion
Martha Redbone, Jen, Jamie & Stephan– background vocals
Chris Brown –  Hammond organ & celeste
Ambrose Akinmusire – trumpet
Erin Hill – harp

Ambrose Akinmusire appears courtesy of Blue Note Records

Audio clip from “Civility, History, and Hope with Vincent Harding” with Krista Tippett from American Public Media's On Being®  (p) 2011.  Used with permission.  All rights reserved.

Lyrics:

I was very far away
When the cardboard sign called out to the world
“the beginning is near”
opened up my lips to say something
something then swept high in the gorgeous tide
so blue so clear

clear eyes on the prize before us
clear eyes on the path laid down 
from Memphis to Madison
Cairo to NYC
Here amid the law and lawless
Here where you finally saw us
Now reborn

solitary voices become one
building of a new world has begun
shopworn gospel brought back in the sun
human evolution never done

new accountability
with a new old fashioned sense of justice
justice I said justice
corporate personality
with a motive built on more than profit
justice we said justice

clear eyes on the far horizon
clear lines of connection
between water planet future and history
here amid this ugly beauty
here where all ego disappears
in true democracy

solitary voices become one
building of a new world has begun
shopworn gospel brought back in the sun
human evolution never done

It’s gonna take a long time but we’re not going away..


Gospel

a version of my dad's tune "I Wonder What Would Happen to the World" featuring -- what a band! --:
Stephan Crump, bass
Dan Rieser, drums
Jamie Fox, guitar
Steven Bernstein, cornet
Doug Wieselman, clarinet
Curtis Fowlkes, trombone

I Wonder What Would Happen To This World

Secret (1)

Gentleness

"With songs delivered in a style that ranges from tender fragility to unexpected steeliness, Chapin brings a jazzy edge to the folk form. Sometimes she explores a fleeting emotion, sometimes she weaves a solid narrative—not at all surprising from the daughter of Harry Chapin, a master musical storyteller.” The New Yorker

“the most mature and satisfying album of her career…stunningly brilliant…Reckoning is a subtle, sophisticated recording that grows in stature with each listening and is well worth your consideration.” Robert Myers, Elmore Magazine

“a surefire gem: the kind of carefully-crafted and sophisticated pop that used to be associated with Paul Simon. Yeah, it’s that good.”  Will Layman, popmatters.com

Jen Chapin has been celebrated for writing “brilliant soulfully poetic urban folk music” (NPR) for over a decade, beginning with her debut, Open Wide, in 2002.  Nurtured in and around NYC by a large family of artists, writers, and musicians, Jen's “observant, lyrically deft, politically aware and emotionally intuitive” (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) songwriting features both her "extraordinary voice” (De krenten uit de pop, The Netherlands) and “astonishing jazz band” (popmatters), the combination of which has garnered her well-deserved praise, solidified by appearances on Late Nite with Conan O’Brien, NPR’s Mountain Stage, WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, WFUV's Sunday Breakfast with John Platt, Mary Sue Twohy's Folk Village and the Bob Edwards Show on Sirius Satellite.

As much as an artistic legacy, the roots of Jen's upbringing have inspired her "potent, jazzy, layered folk" (Newsday) songs and a lifetime of passionate activism, through ongoing work with WhyHunger (founded by her late father Harry Chapin), and other food justice groups. She has performed on stage with Bruce Springsteen, on bills with Aimee Mann, Bruce Hornsby, and The Neville Brothers, her rendition of Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic" was recently featured in an episode of the SyFy TV series "Defiance" and her song, "Go Away" honored by the USA Songwriting Competition.   Jen Chapin's new release Reckoning, produced and engineered by five-time GRAMMY© Winner Kevin Killen (U2, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush) is a new collection of urban folk/jazz/pop storytelling songs, reckoning with the challenge of balancing creative ambitions with the immediate demands of mothering small children, combined with a good dose of social commentary.  

Jen Chapin Music