By Andrew Poretz*** The delightful jazz singer and pianist Champian Fulton is a favorite performer of this reviewer. The Oklahoma native made her most recent Birdland appearance last week with a single set at the Birdland Theater, backed by bassist Dylan Shamat and drummer Willie Jones III, two of the best in the business.
Looking regal in a satiny claret and black dress, Fulton opened the set with a fast-paced and bluesy “Evenin’” (Harry White, Mitchell Parrish) and on “I Cried for You” (Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman, Arthur Freed), she performed the song once through slowly, entirely rubato (in and out of time) and then swung it double-time, her playful solo containing multiple musical quotes.
Fulton, always in terrific voice, has a rather distinctive style. She rarely sings a straight melody for very long. Her approach to a melody bears some similarities to “vocalese” and “scat” singing, except Fulton uses the song’s actual lyrics rather than the made-up words and nonsense syllables of vocalese and scat. She falls behind, under and ahead of the lyric or the piano, always catching up to herself with the grace and timing of a trapeze artist. Overall, with her equally unique piano style, she strikes me as something of a female Nat King Cole.
In addition to being a top-notch pianist, Fulton is also a composer. As a youngster, she wanted to “grow up to play piano in a trio like Red Gardland’s.”—and so she wrote the instrumental “Lullaby For Art,” an evocative, rhythmic piece that might also have been inspired by Dizzy Gillespie’s “
A Night in Tunisia” or the Juan Tizol composition “Caravan.” With an extended solo by Jones and a call-and-response between Fulton and Shamat in changing rhythms, the tune was magical.
Fulton’s ballad work on Ray Noble’s “The Very Thought of You” included the rather obscure, beautiful verse, sung rubato with just piano. Her singing here was especially lush and sensitive, with a touch of Dinah Washington in her tone. She paid homage to Louis Armstrong with “Someday You Will Be Sorry,” which, Fulton noted, Armstrong wrote after his wife, Alpha Smith, left Armstrong for drummer Cliff Leeman, who played in Armstrong’s band. Her insighful reading of the clever lyrics was excellent, and she sang it powerfully. Fulton, who admits to an “obsession” with Armstrong, revealed she plans an album of his original songs. The trio closed with a peppy “Exactly Like You” (Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields), with an Errol Garner-esque solo by Fulton and a “Salt Peanuts” ending quote. The brisk set was a pleasure, with several great choices by Fulton and excellent performances all around.
Champian Fulton returns to Birdland on March 7, 8 and 9 with her continuing Flying High: Big Band Canaries Who Soared series. For more information and tickets, cick here.
Photos by Andrew Poretz
