Chico and the People is a video film about the of the recording of the sound track for the film Rock Soup. Lech Kowalski asked Chico Freeman to compose a sound track for his film about the homeless in New York. The objective was to make a sound that did not feel just like a musical score. He asked Chico Freeman and three musicians to record live with a group of homeless people. The music was recorded on a cold January afternoon in Tompkins Square park on the lower east side in New York. This park was a key meeting point for hundreds of homeless people living on the streets of New York City. Several days after the recording session, the park was closed for several months and redesigned for easier access by the police. This film is a record of that recording session and about a part of New York that no longer exists.