Champian Releases *New* Album: "I'll See You in My Dreams" on August 25 (Venus Record)

I’ll See You in My Dreams / Release Date August 25, 2021 / Venus Record

Available on all digital platforms 

Somewhere over the Atlantic, en route to a two week tour of Scandinavia, Champian Fulton received news that Sweden was closing its borders and going into lockdown, drastically changing her plans. With some unexpected time on their hands, Champian and her Scandinavian Trio (Kristian Leth on drums and Hans Backenroth on bass) took their new tour-ready repertoire and headed into the studio. The resulting album, “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (Venus Record) showcases the trio with instrumental numbers such as the title track, Horace Silver’s “Opus De Funk” and Champian’s original composition “Happy Camper.” Standout vocals include the unearthed gem “Every Now and Then” and the swinging Ahmad Jamal-esque arrangement of “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire.” This cohesive and swinging trio plans to tempt fate by celebrating their first release with an 8 show tour of Sweden in September 2021. 

Champian Fulton - piano / vocals

Hans Backenroth - bass 

Kristian Leth - drums 

Produced by Tetsuo Hara 

Recorded on November 23 & 24, 2020 at FinlandStudio, Aarhus Denmark 

Recording Engineers: Jacob Worm and Rune Hauge 

Mixed and Mastered by Tetsuo Hara 

Venus Hyper Magnum Sound Direct Mix Stereo 

Photos by Jens Peter Engdal 

Designed by Artplan 

Track Listing: 

1. All of You 5:22 (C. Porter) 

2. Baubles, Bangles and Beads 3:55 (R. Wright, G Forrest) 

3. Blues for J McShann 5:38 (Fulton) 

4. Body and Soul 4:41 (J. Green / E. Heyman, R. Sour, F. Eyton) 

5. Every Now and Then 4:59 (A. Silver, A. Lewis, A. Sherman) 

6. I’ve Got a Crush On You 3:58 (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 

7. Happy Camper 3:48 (Fulton) 

8. I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire 3:49 (E. Durham, E. Seiler, S. Marcus) 

9. I’ll See You in My Dreams 3:48 (I. Jones, G. Khan) 

10. I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm 5:33 (I. Berlin) 

11. Opus De Funk 5:44 (H. Silver) 

12. Pennies from Heaven 8:01 (A. Johnson, J. Burke) 

Champian Releases *New* Album: "Live from Lockdown", Release Date September 10, 2021

Publicity: Lydia Liebman Promotions // lydia@lydialiebmanpromotions.com (1)570-730-5297

The multifaceted pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton is pleased to announce the release of her new album Live from Lockdown, due out September 10, 2021. After her captivating Sunday-evening webcasts took audiences by storm throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, Fulton decided to offer a permanent recording of her series. To be released digitally and as a limited edition compact disc, Live from Lockdown features a representative selection of some of the most popular sessions from Fulton and her steadfast collaborator, her father Stephen Fulton on flugelhorn and trumpet. A profound display of cheerful composure during an uncertain time, Live from Lockdown showcases the musicians’ sophisticated synchronicity among a collection of re-imagined jazz classics and Fulton originals. 

When the COVID-19 lockdown swept Manhattan last spring, Champian Fulton saw her packed schedule full of concerts and tours vanish before her eyes. "I couldn't believe it when all the cancellations started rolling in; it was really devastating to see an entire calendar year of touring vanish." Fulton shares. With venues closed, and with social distancing in full effect, Champian and her father, noted trumpeter and flugelhornist, began performing at home for a virtual audience. The concerts were an instant success, bringing in over 20,000 viewers on a given week, and winning legions of new fans for the Fulton family duo. "Live streaming was a total lifesaver for me. It not only gave me a way to stay motivated about my music but it connected me to my fans in a way I never knew possible. I felt so much love and positivity each Sunday; it kept me going through a very tough time.”

The success of the live-stream (which is still going strong albeit on a less rigorous schedule) inspired Champian to record a full album devoted to the concept. The resulting work goes well beyond the novelty, and is certainly far too cohesive a work to be thought of as a mere souvenir.  

“For future listeners just hearing the music without knowing the context, it will be pleasure undiluted. For those of us who know the context, I think it will be one of those pleasures that deserves to be called sustaining, a gift that helped us in a rough time and, more importantly, told us it was worth getting through,” says critic Charles Taylor in his liner notes. 

Live From Lockdown opens with Ray Noble’s, “I Hadn’t Anyone Till You.” Champian’s rosy rendition maintains a hopeful charm, even with Stephen’s short blows and percussive notes resembling a heavy heart behind Champian in her effervescence. On an original composition from the duo, “Pass the Hat”, Stephen performs a buoyant lowdown and more stylistic offering that is mutually grasped by his daughter on the piano.

Champian’s diverse range across Live from Lockdown is a showcase of a newfound posture she revels in while in the company of her witty partner. Her vocal versatility is embodied on tracks like “What Will I Tell My Heart”, and as the liner notes point out, “she can go from a high whispery register, consistently present throughout the album, to sudden low swoops that bounce us back to earth.” Uniquely, the Fultons cover Harry Warren and Mack Gordon’s “I Had The Craziest Dream” nodding to the ambiguity of our present moment, while still directing our ears and eyes toward normality sometime soon.

Fulton considers her optimistic spirit a statement of purpose, as her musical repertoire has always tended toward the sunny. And radiant she is on this twelve-track selection in the company of her father. Live from Lockdown is a reminder of how in sync the pair are on their first ever duo recording together. 

"The Sunday series of 'Live from Lockdown' really reminded me of the importance of the Jazz community,” Fulton reflects. “I felt such friendship and kindness each week as people tuned in and chatted with me, checking out different records and sharing videos. It sustained me and gave me a hopeful perspective for the future of this music. I hope this recording gives the same feeling to the listener." 

##

Track Listing:

1. I Hadn’t Anyone Till You

2. You’ve Changed

3. Satin Doll

4. Blow Top Blues

5. Moonglow

6. What Is This Thing Called Love

7. What Will I Tell My Heart

8. Look for the Silver Lining

9. I Had the Craziest Dream

10. Pass the Hat

11. I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

12. Midnight Stroll

13. A Message from Champian and Stephen

Champian declared "Lioness of Jazz" by hometown newspaper, the Norman Transcript

This feature on Champian ran in the June 11, 2021 issue of the Norman Transcript. Written by Doug Hill.

Champian Fulton’s fine vocals would better be described as a purr than a roar.

That didn’t prevent the Norman-based vocalist and pianist’s recording of “Tenderly” from being included in a recent Sirius XM Real Jazz radio program titled “The Young Lionesses.” The artist doesn’t mind being compared to royalty of the animal kingdom by the New York City broadcasting company.

“I like that,” Fulton said with a chuckle. “A lioness would be a good strong animal to be associated with.”

Since launching her musician career approximately 20 years ago in Norman, Fulton’s associations have been many. She relocated to jazz mecca New York City for several years. From there she was booked to perform at jazz festivals and concerts around the world.

Even in this era of live performance drought, Fulton continues to receive international recognition. She’s recently been invited into an alliance with Yamaha Corporation, the Japanese manufacturer of pianos Fulton prefers to play.

“I became a Yamaha Artist this year,” Fulton said. “They saw one of my ‘Live from Lockdown’ programs last spring. I have two Yamaha upright pianos that I use at home.”

Yamaha invited her into the cooperative agreement, which gives Fulton access to a New York City studio.

“I can record there or have concerts,” she said. “They’ll also supply me with the Yamaha piano of my choosing for concerts or recordings. We haven’t got to do that yet with touring on pause, but hopefully soon we’ll be able to make that happen.”

That arrangement is a pianist’s dream come true, because occasionally, the instruments at gigs are less than ideal. The live streaming show that the Yamaha folks heard continues.

“Live from Lockdown is every Sunday on Facebook and Youtube at 4 p.m. Central,” Fulton said. “It’s a live show where I play, sometimes with special guests, and interact with the audience. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s kept me motivated to keep learning music in this year when I haven’t been performing much.”

The popularity of “Live from Lockdown” spurred Fulton to make a studio record based on the show that will be released later this year. It will be the artist’s first LP pressed in vinyl. In August 2020, Fulton released an album titled “Birdsong,” which was met by critical acclaim from around the world.

“The record is a celebration of Charlie Parker and the centennial of his birth,” Fulton said. “He would have been 100 in 2020. I am so influenced by his music and being from the Midwest like myself. I wanted to make a tribute to him and play these songs.”

Fulton’s long-time band of Fukushi Tainaka on drums, bassist Hide Tanaka and Stephen Fulton on trumpet/flugelhorn performed with her on Birdsong.

“My band has the same passion for Charlie Parker, and we brought in special guest and my good friend Scott Hamilton, the great tenor saxophone player,” Fulton said.

Birdsong is titled in reference to Charlie Parker’s nickname “Yardbird.” The platter received absolutely rave reviews from media jazz critics around the world. Fulton sings tunes associated with Parker including “My Old Flame,” “Star Eyes” and “Quasimodo” on the 11-track LP.

She’s been playing with her regular band since 2004, and their virtuosity together is magnificent.

“The longer you play with someone the relationship becomes stronger, and being together for so long has allowed me to grow with them,” Fulton said.

It helps that trumpeter Stephen Fulton is her father and jazz mentor who even played Charlie Parker’s recordings for Champian while she was still gestating in her mother’s womb.

“It’s wonderful to have a group of people you can try your artistic ideas out with,” Fulton said. “It’s wonderful to have the band there for working through arrangements and sharing the creativity.”

Fulton established herself on the New York City jazz scene, then internationally, but has always valued her roots in this part of the world.

One of the formative jazz concerts she attended as a youth was by Jay McShann (1916-2006) performing at the Deep Deuce Jazz Festival in Oklahoma City circa 1999. McShann was Charlie Parker’s band leader back in the day.

“People don’t think of music in a regional way anymore,” she said. “Just New York or maybe New Orleans, but there’s a strong legacy from this part of the country between Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Texas. I feel very Oklahoman. I love the land here, grew up playing music and feel very connected to the area. It swings in a different way here from New York City.”

Fulton has dates to play gigs in San Francisco, New York and the Parfum de Jazz Festival in Buis-les-Baronnies, France later this year.

https://www.normantranscript.com/community/lioness-of-jazz-norman-vocalist-pianist-celebrated-globally/article_813e3734-ca2c-11eb-9b7f-73b1a26c3b65.html

Champian "Rising Star Jazz Vocalist" in the Downbeat Critics Poll!

Congratulations to Champian, voted as a Rising Star Jazz Vocalist in the 69th Annual Downbeat Critics Poll!

Champian Fulton's Live Django show reviewed in the NYC Jazz Record! (July 2021)

Joy is contagious when a performer exudes it. Pianist- vocalist Champian Fulton at The Django (Jun. 16th) generously and consistently dispensed that quality, delivering sophisticated, swinging turns whatever she played. Opener “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” clearly established piano and vocal skills on an even par. If Blossom Dearie and Duke Ellington had a love child, it could well have been Fulton. Her vocal tone is reminiscent of the former—light and girlish—but with more heft; her attack on the keys is intelligently percussive: energetic and determined, yet without a hint of heaviness. Superb vocal-phrasing skills were especially evident in a creative “Bubbles, Bangles and Beads”, a harmonically rich tune derivative of an Alexander Borodin string quartet. A few numbers without vocals, such as a jaunty ”What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry?” and “The Jitterbug Waltz”, demonstrated musical storytelling prowess through clean technique. The sublime bassist Hide Tanaka and solid drummer Fukushi Tainaka added delicious synchronic texture. The former brought an ethereal quality, sometimes reminiscent of koto playing; his bowing, especially on “I’ll See You in My Dreams”, a tour de force. Guest alto saxophonist Nick Hempton came aboard for the last three numbers of the set. He’s a solid, if unsmiling and serious player (in need of a dose of Fulton joy), demonstrating agility on a slow tempo “Just Friends” and a lightly swinging “You Turned the Tables on Me”. (ML)

FULL JULY ISSUE ON NEWSTANDS AND ONLINE. CLICK HERE.

Pictures by Chihiro Tainaka (supplied by artist)

Champian featured on Citizen Jazz (in French, with English translation)

This article is originally in French and can be read by clicking here. What follows is an English translation by Mark Stout.

In her homage to Charlie Parker, who would have been 100 years old in 2020, Ms.  Fulton sought to draw inspiration from his recordings rather than reproducing a  verbatim impression of his genius, and boy, did she deliver! 

Stealing hearts with her rakishly glamourous charm, this native southerner, having  made a name for herself in the Big Apple, owns her southern persona unabashedly. Her  rich unaffected nasal tone reaches into seductive falsetto range through swinging flights  and occasional darker melancholy tones and is never mundane.  

She moves in and out of the rhythmic and melodic structure of the music in search of an  authentically bluesy lyrical quality, inspiring in the listener a sense of the unusual in the  familiar world of jazz standards. And so it is in her duet with Scott Hamilton on the  reprise of the head at the end of Star Eyes—unless this emblematic trad-jazz sax man is  also going off track (utterly improbable)—we understand that playing with the rules of  strict musical accuracy is the trademark sound of her singing. 

And my, how she swings on the piano! She conjures the spirit of Erroll Garner— evoking but not imitating—with that subtle left-hand shift that melts in the mouth like  the sweetest funky candy. Her pianistic sensitivities are orchestral. Her right hand,  walking on air with the lightness of a songbird, fluttering over the harmonic changes,  the better to alight on the wires of the melodic lines. She achieves phrasing worthy of a Bud Powell, particularly as she trades choruses with the drummer on All God’s Chillun  Got Rhythm. Even at high speed, she knows how to tell a story filled with enticing  aromas evoking the legendary performers who came before her. And, through her  sense of the space that she occupies, she makes the listener want to take to the dance  floor, creating a gentle rocking sensation where we can imagine her swaying her hips to  the music—for truly, this is the source of her music. She’s a heartbreaker, exceedingly  sensual. 

Here, she once again calls on her father, who bathed her in the baptismal fonts of jazz by repeatedly playing the album Charlie Parker with Strings while she was still in her  mother’s womb. A formidable flugelhornist in his own right, this erstwhile traveling  companion of Clark Terry, Papa Fulton was clearly the man for the job. She had no 

other choice but to hire him for this album paying homage to Bird. In her take on  Quasimodo, done as a trio, she brushes up against the incunabula of Bird’s style like a  frightened, blushing debutante.  

However you cut it, she is well served on this album, as with her previous albums, by a  peerless rhythm section, recruited some 10 years ago, comprising two Japanese expats  living in New-York, Hide Tanaka (an astonishingly elegant bass man with unparalleled  control) and Fukushi Tainaka (a solid drummer, at ease rhythmically and authentic in  the colors of his playing). Still, she’s the one who teases out the contributions of the  individual musicians, eliciting their responses, calling their solos, with a rare chemistry  that we hope will give rise to other gems of equally fine quality. The choice to end the  album with Bluebird gives her the opportunity to deal a sort of expertly targeted death  blow to an approach to interpreting Bird’s repertoire that is all too often patriarchal,  demonstrating in this ostensibly simple 12-bar form fraught with peril that she is an  accomplished jazzwoman who knows the classics and knows how to transcend them. 

Rave Reviews for Champian's New Album BIRDSONG

“It’s just a lovely album – so perfectly played and produced. Not a note out of place and yet never sounding ‘too clean’. Opener, Just Friends, really sets the tone – a calm and simple waltz riding on a terrific vocal, and then, suddenly, subtly, the musical tone shifts to 4/4, the brushes are discarded for sticks, the piano starts in on a great bit of blues vamping; the band all alone for the ride.” - Simon Sweetman, OffTheTracks

“[“Birdsong”] buttress’ Parker’s strong position and broadens Fulton’s standing as a supreme stylist and interpreter. Blending relaxed and romantic tides with athletic strides that seduce and swing, her music—pure Parker with personal touches—wins as it begins.” - Dan Bilawsky, NYC Jazz Record

“There is a reason Fulton has managed to find an audience across the jazz fan spectrum. She can get to the heart of a song, those roots, and she knows how to work a band. .She plays classic jazz in the truest sense, at the melodic heart of what jazz is” - Joe Bebco, the Syncopated Times

Named Album of the Week by WRTI Philadelphia! Read the complete review.

Named Album of the Week by ABC Australia!

Named Dinner Album of the Week by JazzFM!

“As a vocal interpreter of standards, there’s simply no room for many who are doing it any better right now.” - Maureen Malloy, WRTI

The New York Times calls BIRDSONG “buoyant”

“Birdsong is a recording which achieves so much, for the legacy of Bird and for Champian Fulton as a musician….The results offer the essence of Charlie Parker but not his ghost.” - Sammy Stein, Something Else

“Champian Fulton es una excelente pianista, ingeniosa, con un potente ritmo, que pasa del be bop a la balada sin el menor esfuerzo. Como cantante es dulce, elegante, clásica y vanguardista al mismo tiempo, de la que podrían tomar nota alguna que otra voz consagrada (y no diré nombres).” - La Habitacion del Jazz

“Bird’s music is indeed timeless and although it’s unusual to hear a vocal album of his material, this is well conceived and delivered in that same spirit that her dad coined as “the most beautiful music there ever was.’ - Making a Scene

“The Champian Fulton-led ensemble has a relaxed and fluid swing. Fulton's vocals feature syllables stretched like warm bread dough interspersed with interludes of a horn like sassiness…. 4 STARS” - Dan McClenaghan for AAJ

“Ever inspired, Fulton’s renditions of these tricky favorites radiate warmth and charisma.” Suzanne Lorge, The New York City Jazz Record

“In Champian, we have as near perfect a take on Bird as any "bird" singer has ever done. A uniquely original voice that gets into the music in a manner that even Sheila Jordan and Carmen McRae didn't quite match. Plus her piano playing is up there too. It is simply fantastic. Ms Fulton does more than run the changes - she supercharges them!” - Bebop Spoken Here

“Fulton finds ingenious ways to honor Parker…Birdsong instigates foot tapping.” - Plastic Sax

TSF Features “BIRDSONG” in their programming: “Nous passerons ensuite un coup de fil à la pianiste et chanteuse new-yorkaise Champian Fulton. Elle a été bercée durant toute sa jeunesse par la musique de Charlie Parker, et elle lui consacre son nouvel album, Birdsong.” CLICK HERE for Podcast from TSF.

“what’s so great about [Champian] as a pianist and bandleader is that she can switch from quicksilver bebop virtuosity to florid romanticism at the drop of a beat.” - CDHotList

“Pour finir, remarquons que Champian Fulton n’est pas seulement une chanteuse qui s’accompagne au piano. C’est une remarquable instrumentiste dont le jeu ancré dans la tradition la plus authentique porte les influences de Teddy Wilson, Bud Powell et Erroll Garner qu’elle a su synthétiser en un tout cohérent. Pour s’en convaincre, il suffit d’écouter ses improvisations porteuses d’un swing énergique (Quasimodo) et sa manière d’accompagner en block chords qui reste d’une redoutable efficacité. Un bel hommage au musicien exceptionnel que fut Charlie Parker.” - Alain Tomas, Couleurs Jazz

“Champian Fulton et Scott Hamilton (bien accompagnés) possèdent suffisamment d’expérience et de créativité pour que l’évocation mémorielle ne soit jamais ennuyeuse. A écouter pour le plaisir simple du jazz atemporel.” - Yves Dorison, CultureJazz

---

“There are times on Champian Fulton’s new Birdsong when her vocals linger so far behind the beat that I feared that the pianist couldn’t stay with her. Except that Fulton is the pianist, and she’s terrific, channeling not only Errol Garner rhythmic games of chicken, but also such pre-bop masters as Teddy Wilson and Billy Kyle. Few instrumentalists play like this anymore since this elastic approach to rhythm was all but swept away by the bebop charge led by Charlie Parker, whose centenary today this release celebrates. It didn’t disappear entirely, though, surviving in the vocal styles of Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson and Betty Carter, who took rhythmic elasticity to an extreme. Fulton has a lighter, less bluesy voice than those luminaries, but she uses it playfully and is a fearless improvisor. Her music making fairly overflows with joy on this program of 11 songs associated by Parker and it’s often thrilling to hear her highwire act.  Saxophonist Scott Hamilton is an old hand at this kind of material and Fulton’s father, Stephen, adds trumpet on a couple of songs. The rhythm team of bassist Hide Tanaka and drummer Fukushi Tainaka ticks along deferentially in a way that today’s more assertive rhythm sections abjure. If all this suggests a record that might have been made in, say, 1961, well, you’re not wrong.  But there is something almost radical in the way Fulton and her mates bring to this material something that jazz could use more of these days:  charm.” - John Chacona, Roll Call

---

“Champian Fulton’s choice of songs exhibit her technical mastery of the piano.  Her tender and imaginative vocal interpretations are compelling.  Fulton hopes, with this album release, to expose Charlie Parker’s music to a multitude of young audiences and at the same time, show that one-hundred years later, Bird’s music is truly important and timeless.” - Musical Memoirs

“you just can't be a straight ahead jazzbo and not dig this.” - Midwest Record

“Fulton is a strong piano soloist with an electric streak.” - Jazzwise Magazine

“Attempting a mood of heightened sensuality in her arrangements, Fulton unconventionally opts for languid tempi, her vocal delivery displaying stylistic nuances of Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae and her piano-playing influenced by Erroll Garner.” - London Jazz News

“Whether singing or playing, she always swings while doing justice to the songs that she interprets.” - Scott Yanow, JAZZIZ

“Fulton is a swinging and accomplished pianist and wonderful and emotional singer, who gives these songs a new life and a fresh paint.” - Wulf Muller’s Music Blog

---

Champian was featured on the cover of the weekend edition of The Oklahoman. Read the story here.

“Champian has secured her place as a first-rate stylist who can seduce listeners and swing her brand of personalized jazz entries She is in a league with some of the best performers from the golden age of jazz……

Champian Fulton has found ingenious musical ways to honor Charlie Parker through her art and along with some flawless musicians (a well-deserved shout-out goes to driving bassist Hide Tanaka). She has been called a supreme stylist and interpreter. The album has made it to several “best” lists. That says it all. The disc is a real find. Ms. Fulton is a classic jazz artist worthy of her many accolades.” - John Hoglund, Cabaret Scenes

LISTEN to Champian’s Interview with Jason Crane and the Jazz Session, Posted November 4. https://www.thejazzsession.com/2020/11/04/the-jazz-session-536-champian-fulton/

“Fulton takes a painterly approach, parsing the lyrics line by line. The take of Just Friends, shifting subtly from a jazz waltz to balmy swing, is a good choice of opener. As silky and expressive as her vocals are, her jaunty Errol Garner-ish piano solo is even more adrenalizing.” - NY Music Daily

“Avec Scott Hamilton, la jeune femme s’est trouvé un partenaire de choix dont elle partage un abord enraciné du jazz, imperméable à toute mode. Cette fraîcheur et cet enthousiasme naturel dans sa relation au jazz est ce qui rend Champian Fulton très appréciable.” - Jérôme Partage, Jazz Hot

TOP 20 RELEASES OF 2020, ABC AUSTRALIA

“Listening to Birdsong, it is evident that whether you consider CHAMPIAN FULTON a fine jazz singer or a jazz pianist supreme, you will be correct.” - Jersey Jazz

“This self-accompanying vocalist can allow her expert piano skills to dominate by taking a deceptively offhand approach to phrasing, singing with a modicum of heft or drama. But there's canniness in the quirky minimalism. She bites into some words while floating breathily over others. This gives some phrases punch or slyness.” - Rob Lester, Talkin Broadway Sound Advice