w/ Champian Fulton, piano & vocals, Fukushi Tainaka, drums, Hide Tanaka, bass

3:30, Saturday July 29

Born in Oklahoma in 1985, vocalist/pianist Champian Fulton grew up in a musical family. Her father, Stephen Fulton, is a jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and educator, and the family recognized her fascination with music early on. Frequent visits from musician friends, notably Clark Terry and Major Holley, inspired her focus on jazz. For her first paid gig, she appeared with her own band at Clark Terry’s 75th Birthday Party— she was 10!  

Now a mainstay on the New York jazz scene, Champian has performed with Lou Donaldson, Frank Wess, Scott Hamilton, Buster Williams, Louis Hayes and many others. From New York to Barcelona, Champian’s swinging style and charisma have made her a guardian of the legacy of Bud Powell, Red Garland, Erroll Garner, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, and Dinah Washington.

Champian has 14 albums as a leader. Her debut album, Champian with David Berger & the Sultans of Swing (Such Sweet Thunder Records) was recorded following a two-year residency at New York’s Birdland.  In 2019 she was named Pianist and Vocalist of the year by Hot House Magazines Readers Poll. Her passion for performing and passing on the jazz legacy has taken her to institutions like Litchfield Jazz Camp and Rutgers Jazz Institute and to countries around the globe from Scotland to Mongolia. 

This is Champian’s second appearance at Litchfield.  Here’s how it all began. We were hipped to her by Gwen Kelley from Hot House Magazine when Champian was fresh out of college.  Because Gwen has great musical taste, we followed Champian.  For three years!  By then she had polished her act to perfection and built a trio she still works with more than 15 years later. 

Champian, who sings as well as she plays piano, was backed at the 15^th annual Litchfield Jazz Festival in 2011 by two great musicians, Fukushi Tainaka on drums and Hide Tanaka on bass, and her flugelhornist dad, Stephen Fulton.  Her Trio appears again on July 29^th at the 28^th annual LJF, joined by the ever loyal, ever-present Fukushi and Hide.  We can’t wait.