By Andrew Poretz***Jazz singer-pianist Champian Fulton is a favorite of this reviewer. She is a dynamic young singer with a fairly flawless voice and great jazz chops, both as a pianist and a vocalist.
Fulton is the music director for a new show, Flying High: Big Band Canaries Who 
Soared, which aims to honor the styles and sounds of some of the greatest female jazz vocalists. Fulton typically only accompanies herself, and rarely has the opportunity to work with other singers. She has put together a series of shows in various cities wherein she will work with a variety of guest female singers, along with soloists and backup musicians of either sex. With a Birdland run around the corner, Fulton previewed Flying High to a select audience of invited friends and press at the Triad Theatre, an intimate cabaret and concert space above a restaurant on West 72nd Street. While the theater appears to be a restored old vaudeville house, it was actually built in 1984.
For this initial performance, Fulton selected two guest singers, Ekep Nkwelle and Lezlie Harrison, along with trumpeter Nicholas Payton as guest soloist. She was backed by bassist Dylan Shamat and drummer Willie Jones III.
The jazz chanteuse came to the stage wearing a short, sparkly black dress with black stockings, bright red shoes, a red floret bauble 
earing, and a bejeweled headband. She got the set off to a great start by singing and playing “All of Me” (Gerald Marks,`Seymour Simons). She then brought Nicholas Payton up for an instrumental of “Just One of Those Things” (Cole Porter). Payton, with excellent tone and precision playing, led off with the melody. It was quite a sight to watch Fulton’s hands flying on an aggressive and terrific solo, with a staccato attack that brought to mind Nat King Cole’s playing. Then Jones, Payton and Fulton traded fours.
Ekep Nkwelle is an exceptional young singer from the Washington, DC area. Her smooth, delicious voice is a delight on the ears. Her singing brings the best aspects of early Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Dianne Reeves. She honored the great Betty Carter with the jazzy “Social Call,” and Jo Stafford with “You Belong to Me.” She expressed having a surprisingly emotional connection to the latter song, and it showed in her delivery.
Lezlie Harrison, a statuesque woman with a shock of white hair, performed “Sweet Georgia Brown,” a song she always associated with the Harlem Globetrotters (it was their whistled theme song). She followed with an ode to Billie Holiday, singing her composition, “Fine and Mellow” with a sultry delivery. Over at the piano, Fulton could be spied mouthing the lyric “My man don’t love me.” Harrison is a good singer, though she seemed a bit off her game on this evening.
Fulton, clearly champing at the bit to get back on the mic, returned for a pair of vocals, “sticking with the Billie Holiday theme,” for “The Man I Love” (George and Ira Gershwin), and “I Cried For You” (Arthur Freed, Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman). Fulton has a unique vocal rhythmic style, often intentionally falling behind the tune and then catching up. She does this so flawlessly you might not notice, but it’s impossible to be bored by Fulton’s singing.
All hands were on deck for a finale honoring Peggy 
Lee with a fast, bluesy “Why Don’t You Do Right” (Joe McCoy). Each of the singers has a different and distinctive female voice. Fulton added a few funny lyric changes here and there, such as “like my other men do” instead of “some other men.” They encored with “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing)” (Duke Ellington). The musicians all traded solos.
This test run was an auspicious start for Flying High. It wasn’t always clear who the “canary” in question was for each song. The show would likely benefit from some multimedia, adding slides and clips of the vocalists each performer honored. Still, even in its present form, it is likely to be well-received when it debuts at Birdland on March 8. Ultimately, Fulton certainly proved to be as fine an accompanist as she is a world-class singer-pianist.
Photos by Andrew Poretz
