American jazz star enchanted the audience
An American jazz star performed in Nykøbing with a concert that enchanted the audience.
Directly from New York's jazz scenes to Nykøbing, the audience in Kulturhus Pakhuset got the sparkling jazzjewel Champian Fulton, who together with a team of top musicians created pure magic on a Saturday afternoon.
Champian Fulton is an upcoming star on the international jazz scene. In Pakhuset, she sparkled as a singer and as a virtuoso, Oscar Peterson-inspired pianist. A combination that requires multitasking. She started singing and playing jazz as a child in her father's orchestra he played trumpet and flugelhorn. Her deeply embedded performance naturalness and musicality propagated to the audience at the intimate concert in a mesmerizing intensity.
Paying homage to the great divas
The audience was whirled into a universe of ear-splitting, wistfully blue or merrily happy love songs from “The Great American Songbook”, previously sung by divas like Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday.
Champian Fulton added new layers by virtue of his richly faceted voice and eminent piano-accompaniment to classics such as "I Don't Know Enough About You", "Baubles, Bangles and Beads", "PS I Love You" and "It's All Right With Me".
Love afternoon jazz
It's so nice to be here. Jazz in the afternoon is something completely different from jazz late in the evening. I feel like playing a different type of song here, Champian Fulton said before Dinah Washington the classic "What A Difference A Day Makes". It was wrapped in enchanting saxophone playing, delivered by the masterful Swedish alto saxophonist and clarinetist Klas Lindquist. He is influenced by alto sax legends such as Johnny Hodges, Charlie Parker and Lou Donaldson - pioneer within each of their genres swing, bebop and hardbop.
The Swedish saxophonist moved eminently within all genres - with beautiful melodic playing, strong improvisations and flare feeling. All with a nostalgic glow, which lovingly flanked Champion Fulton's song.
The very first song
This song was the first I sang in public - “Pennies From Heaven”. I learned that from my father, reported Champion Fulton of Clark Terry's evergreen. An interpretation of Lou Donaldson's "Jump Up", in refreshing uptempo packed with rhythm changes, offered wild performances by the Swedish bass giant, Hans Backenroth, among other things a master of the bass solo with bow, and Danish Kristian Leth as a rhythmic powerhouse behind the drums.
A cuddly interplay
The audience was also treated to a few Billie Holiday songs - first “I Cryed For You” and finally “You Turned The Tables On Me. "It's my favorite song," declared Champian Fulton. The audience clapped along to an encore - the Fitzgerald signature “It Had To Be You” that offered cuddly interplay between Fulton and Lindquist.
