Mark Stryker's Review in the Detriot Free Press (September 2007)

In her early 20s, vocalist Champian Fulton is full of promise and maturity beyond her years. You can hear it in the charismatic snap of her phrasing and diction, her conversational expression and the suppleness of her swing -- you can't manufacture the relaxed momentum she generates on a jump tune like "They Didn't Believe Me" or the bedroom allure she injects into a ballad like "The Gypsy."

Her pitch can wander, and her clarified vowels and foggy basement sometimes lean too much on idols Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. But her musicianship is compelling; she even plays convincing Erroll Garner-inspired piano on "You Turned the Tables On Me."

David Berger's crafty big band arrangements percolate in mid-century fashion, raising the ghosts of Jimmie Lunceford and others. The haze of nostalgia is thick at times, but Berger's Latin-modal frame for Cole Porter's "Get Out of Town" has a contemporary pop, and the timeless sophistication of the orchestral ballad writing on "This Is Always" is its own reward. Fulton's satiny vocal here is so warm, perspicacious and personal that it's hard to believe she was born in 1985.

By Mark Stryker, Free Press music critic