Champian Fulton

Past event

Interview with Champian Fulton on the blog.

Champian Fulton, pianist and vocalist, grew up surrounded by music. Her father, Stephen Fulton, a jazz trumpeter and teacher, and her mother quickly recognised their daughter's interest in music at an early age. The presence of her father's musician friends, including Clark Terry and Major Holley, also served to stimulate her focus on music.

When she was 5 years old she began studying piano with her grandmother, later began singing, and took trumpet and drum lessons, before eventually deciding to focus on piano and voice. His family moved to Lemars, IA, in 1994 after Stepehn Fulton was appointed director of the Clark Terry Institute (Jazz Studies).

One of Fulton's early vocal influences was Dinah Washington, especially with the album “For those in Love”, which she listened to on repeat, while Sarah Vaughan also became one of her favourites. She admired Nat King Cole (one of the first jazz artists to teach the marriage of voice and piano), Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, Hampton Hawes, Sonny Clark, and Thelonious Monk.

After graduating as valedictorian of her high school in 2003, Fulton moved to New York to pursue a degree in jazz piano and to perform at the Suny Purchase Music Conservatory, a school that appealed to her because it had 100 rehearsal rooms and Steinway pianos available 24 hours a day. One of his favourite teachers was trumpeter Jon Faddis, who taught him with the wisdom of someone who had been actively involved in recording and touring for decades, tailoring his teaching to the interests of his students.

Fulton graduated in 2006, and then moved to NYC, since then, Fulton has performed at many of New York's venues, including Birdland, Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center), Smalls, Cleopatra's Needle, and the Kitano.

He has played with jazz greats such as Jimmy Cobb, Frank Wess, Lou Donaldson, and Louis Hayes, among many others. Fulton recorded his debut album in 2007 (released in 2008) with David Berger and The Sultans of Swing, an opportunity that arose after Berger introduced him to him while he was playing at Birdland. His next CD was Sometime I'm Happy, which was released in 2008, with Fulton leading his trio, bassist Neal Miner and drummer Fukushi Tinaka.

His third CD, “The Breeze and I” was released in late 2010 and features his trio (Neal Miner and Fukushi Tainaka). Champian has been involved in jazz from an early age, starting first learning with his father at the Birch Creek Music Academy and then teaching private lessons. Since moving to New York, Champian has participated in LEAP NYC, taught jazz classes in the New York Public School, and has also collaborated with Lincoln Center's Meet the Artist Program, presenting concerts and performing at the New York City Jazz Festival.
offering masterclasses to the visiting schools.