Tom Chapman is a percussionist, drummer and educator based in Birmingham.
Best known as a founding member of The Urban Folk Quartet, he has spent more than twenty years touring internationally, and has appeared on seven UFQ albums.
A First Class graduate of Birmingham Conservatoire and an Honorary Fellow of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, his work crosses folk, jazz, rock and music from around the world, with rhythm and collaboration at its centre.
Tom is particularly known for his work with the cajón. Among the early generation of UK musicians to adopt the instrument as a serious part of a professional percussion setup, he developed a distinctive approach combining cajón and hand percussion with cymbals and elements of the drum kit. In 2006 he appeared in Los Caminos del Cajón, a documentary exploring the instrument's spread around the world, and later produced two series of Creative Approaches to Contemporary Cajón for iDrum magazine.
“Masterful cajón playing”
The Scotsman
Alongside his work with UFQ, Tom has performed or recorded with artists including Joss Stone, The Violent Femmes, Cerys Matthews, Jacqui McShee, Roby Lakatos, Dave Swarbrick, Chris While and Fairport Convention, as well as contributing percussion and drums to numerous albums, broadcast and production-music sessions.
His playing ranges from contemporary folk and acoustic music to jazz, gospel and swing, usually centred around the hybrid drum-and-percussion setups that have become his trademark.
“Some of the most inventive percussion you're ever likely to hear”
R2 Magazine
Education has run alongside performing throughout Tom's career.
He is a Visiting Lecturer in Music at the University of Chester, has delivered workshops and masterclasses at conservatoires and universities in the UK and Europe, and maintains a long association with Joe Broughton's Conservatoire Folk Ensemble, of which he has been part since his own student days. His work with Music for Youth has included mentoring young musicians and helping to lead large-scale performances at the Royal Albert Hall.
For all the variety of the work, live performance remains at the heart of it.
The Urban Folk Quartet continues to be Tom's principal musical home: an independent band built around long-standing musical relationships, improvisation, groove and the energy exchanged between musicians and audiences.
Read more about Tom and his work in this feature with Percworks.
Tom is proud to play De Gregorio Cajones and Istanbul Agop Cymbals.