Keyboardist Jim Chappell Taps Into Brawn Power : Jazz: His popularity climbs after ‘getting more physical’ and giving his music ‘more of a spark.’ He plays the Coach House tonight.

There’s been a subtle shift in pianist Jim Chappell’s music during the last few years. And with the changes has come a surge in popularity--especially in the Philippines.

Not that the 38-year-old keyboardist isn’t enjoying a wider audience in the States as well. His current album, “Over the Top,” has broken into Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

But on a recent tour of the Philippines last summer, he was awarded the kind of adulation usually reserved for pop superstars.

“We played three different concert halls, the largest with 4,000 seats, and sold them all out,” he said during a phone conversation from his home in Marin County.

“In this country, most of my fans are in that 25 to 40 age bracket. But over there, it’s bizarre. We did an autograph signing, and it was packed with 18-year-old screaming girls. At one point, I got pinned to the wall, and security had to make me some room. My bass player looked at me and started singing, ‘A Hard Day’s Night.’ ”

Chappell doesn’t expect the same kind of scene when he and the band play the Coach House tonight. Nevertheless, the pianist is gratified that his career has progressed from his days as a solo pianist, when he ferried copies of his first recording, “Tender Ritual,” to new-age boutiques all over Northern California in 1986.

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Chappell’s previous album, “In Search of the Magic,” made the Gavin Report’s Top 10 Adult Alternative list of 1992 along with such artists as Pat Metheny, k.d. lang and Larry Carlton.

“In Search of the Magic” signaled the change of orientation that fires his current work. Originally, Chappell came to the public eye as an impressionistic solo pianist, with a heavy emphasis on the melodic side of the musical ledger. Now, he says, working with a group, he’s taken to exploring the rhythmic side.

“I’m feeling a little more rhythmic myself these days,” he said with a laugh. “Actually, the best way to put it is the music is getting more physical. A lot (of my earlier music) came from the heart and the mind: very dreamy and beautiful, easier material that was sweet, sensual, gentle. Now I need more of a spark.”

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Providing that spark on “Over the Top” is a quartet of musicians--saxophonist Tom Politzer, drummer Jimmy Sanchez, bassist Dennis Murphy and guitarist Jean-Michael Hure--and the occasional touches of flute or synthesizer. The result is an accessibly easy-going mix of beat and ballads that features its leader’s lyrical keyboard work.

“We’re talking relative here,” Chappell said of the physical aspect of his work. “It’s not guitar-smashing, turning-over-cars type of music. It’s the kind of music that might cause you to tap your feet or make you want to respond physically to what we’re playing. Some concerts are very cerebral, people sit with their eyes closed and go within to enjoy it. Some of my songs still do that. I don’t want to lose that strong melodic content. It’s been such a big part of my success.”

The pianist says his current emphasis on the physical is a result of changes in his own life.

“I’ve been growing as a person year by year, and my music reflects that. I’m more confident in my life and as a musician, now. When I talk to my friends, they say, ‘What’s going on? You’re not so quiet, not holding things in like you used to.’ People respect you when you’re more forward. I’m still putting the same thing out there, but in a little different way.”

The shift in Chappell’s direction has also changed the category into which his music is categorized, from new age to jazz. “Especially since the last two albums, I fit more easily into the contemporary jazz charts,” he explains.

“Anything that is slow and has no definite groove, like some of my earlier work, opens itself to the new-age label. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care about the label as long as people can find my records,” he said.

Luckily, he added, the musical shift hasn’t cost him any of his audience.

“Whatever spark of magic that made people respond originally hasn’t disappeared. Some people want you to stay the same, they want to know when I’m going to put another solo album out, and I probably will at some point. But for now, I have to write whatever comes out. You can’t say, ‘OK, now I’m going to write this kind of song or that kind of song.’ When something decent comes up, who am I to get in the way of it? You can’t let yourself get bigger than the creative process.”

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When writing, Chappell sits at the piano with the tape recorder running and just lets the music flow. Or if he’s on the road, he’ll sing melodies into the recorder.

“It’s almost like brainstorming,” he said. “I’ll throw out 20 ideas in a half-hour and store them away. After a couple months of that, I’ll go back and listen to them and pick out the ones that reach inside me and make me feel something. Then I’ll arrange those for the band and take them into the studio.”

Chappell says he’ll be doing just that before the end of the year in preparation for the next album, his eighth. He’s also hoping to do more film and television work (such shows as “A Current Affair,” “20/20” and Barbara Walters specials have picked up his recorded work).

“That will happen when it’s meant to happen,” he said. “Right now, I’m fine with what I’m doing.”

* Keyboardist Jim Chappell, saxophonist Tom Politzer, drummer Jimmy Sanchez, bassist Dennis Murphy and guitarist Jean-Michael Hure play tonight at 8 at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. $10. (714) 496-8930.