Jen Chapin and her trio, who performed at Oxford Friends Meeting on April 9, put on a show that was very far removed from the usual earnest and soulful singer-songwriter concert. She and her band put a distinctive jazzy edge on her songs about motherhood, world hunger, marriage, Paris, New York, and Zimbabwe.
Jen performed with bassist Stephan Crump (her husband) and guitarist Jamie Fox. The contrast between Stephan and Jamie was amusing: Jamie's face remained as deadpan as a buttoned-up actuary, while Stephan grinned and winced and tossed his head back and forth. Jen used graceful, studied hand gestures to accompany her words.
My favorite song of the evening was "Tangled-up Puppets," with music by Jen's father Harry Chapin and lyrics by her mother, Sandra Chapin. (Perhaps you remember the 1970s hits "Cat's in the Cradle" and "Taxi"? Yes, THAT Harry Chapin.) Stephan and Jen gave a shout-out to Sandra for babysitting their two sons back in Brooklyn, N.Y., so they could drive down to Oxford and do the show.
One odd side note: Jen said while she and the band were having dinner before the show at an Oxford restaurant, a woman came up to her and accused her of being very rude on a prior visit, wrapping up her insults by calling her an angry and miserable person. Jen said she was baffled as she had never even been to Oxford before.
Opening the show were Scott Birney and Steve Hobson of the local Sin City Band -- what a happy surprise! They performed a nice little set that included their tribute to the Chesapeake Bay and the old Sunset Park in Jennersville, as well as the late Merle Haggard's "Momma Tried.". We chatted with Scott at intermission and he talked about the "Harry Chapin" button he was wearing on his lapel -- it seems there's a move afoot to get him inducted into the songwriters' hall of fame.
No comments:
Post a Comment