RELEASE DATE SEPTEMBER 2007. THIS IS CHAMPIAN’S FIRST RECORDING.

A recording for everyone who likes songs and singers. Fourteen new arrangements from the Great American Songbook sung by the hottest new singer on the scene today in her debut album accompanied by one of the premiere big bands in jazz. Romance, wit--always hip and swinging. 

Mr. Berger tells the story, “For a long time, I have wanted to make a vocal album in the tradition of those made by the great popular singers of the 1950's and 1960's. An album that features swinging jazz arrangements of classic American songs, sung by a vocalist who reaches into the heart of each and every listener, be they jazz aficionado or not. 

On July 4, 2006, our first Tuesday night at Birdland in New York City, I was introduced to a young woman who was sitting at the bar. She told me her name was Champian (not a name you are likely to forget), that she was playing piano and singing on Thursdays at the club, and so it was that she came to check us out. After I returned the favor and heard her perform, she filled in singing with us, did a great job, and 2 months later she joined our band. I started arranging songs for her, and it immediately became apparent that she had a special rapport with the band. Not only did she have musical skills on a par with the other musicians in the band, but also she was a perfect stylistic fit--a true jazz singer. 

I knew instinctively how to write for her, and in turn, she knew immediately how to fit what she did into the arrangements. After the initial 3 arrangements, we planned an entire album, designing each song specifically to feature her and all the individual players in the band soloistically as well as in different instrumental and vocal combinations. Over the next 6 months we honed those arrangements at rehearsals and at our weekly gig at Birdland".