Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Champian Fulton: Champian

183

Champian Fulton: Champian

By

View read count
Champian Fulton: Champian
Nobody does Duke-style big band music better than David Berger's Sultans of Swing, so just hearing this big band so attuned to swing with such Ellington-ian touches as muted lead and solo brass voices, and weaving saxophones and clarinets is a joy. That the arrangements all feature singer Champian Fulton is not always such a plus. Berger, like his idol the Duke, seems less perspicacious in his appraisal of singers than instrumentalists. But Ellington rarely featured a singer for more than two or three numbers, and Fulton may be fine for such brief interludes in a big band show. However, she can be wearing over the course of an album.

Fulton has a pleasant voice but, to borrow the vocabulary of an American Idol judge, she can be "pitchy." But even more problematical is an almost callow lack of a personality in her vocal delivery, marked by a penchant for phrasing that habitually drifts off at the end of lines. Berger has said that he wanted to make an album in the "tradition of those made by the great popular singers of the 1950s and 1960s," but when direct comparisons are unavoidable, as on "It's Crazy," inspired by Sarah Vaughan's recording with Clifford Brown, Fulton proves a pale imitation of The Divine One. The singer actually seems more at home in the 1930s, in Jimmie Lunceford/Sy Oliver-styled arrangements of "He Ain't Got Rhythm and a "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," the last complete with a hip male vocal trio.

Track Listing

I Didn't Mean A Word I Said; He Ain't Got Rhythm; This Is Always; They Didn't Believe Me; I Can't Give You Anything But Love; Get Out of Town; Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens; It's Crazy; The Gypsy; You Turned The Tables On Me; Too Close For Comfort; Romance In The Dark; Just One Of Those Things; Never-The-Less.

Personnel

Champian Fulton
piano and vocals

Champian Fulton: vocals, piano (10, 14); David Berger: conductor, arranger; Jay Brandford: reeds; Matt Hong: reeds, vocals; Dan Block: reeds; Mark Hynes: reeds; Carl Maraghi: reeds; Bob Millikan: trumpet; Brian "Fletch" Pareschi: trumpet, vocals; Irv Grossman: trumpet; Michael Rodriguez: trumpet; Wayne Goodman: trombone; Ryan Keberle: trombone, vocals; Marshall Gilkes: trombone; Isaac ben Ayala: piano; Dennis Irwin: bass; Jimmy Madison: drums.

Album information

Title: Champian | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Such Sweet Thunder

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Champian Fulton Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.