It Goes to Credibility Part II

So I thought it would be time for me to put my money where my...fingers on the laptop are and offer a positive spin on some of the things I said in the first post on this subject. In retrospect my tone was a little negative, and I was critical of society and culture. Ok I dipped into some heavy pessimism when I discussed what in our culture represented an admirable level of credibility on an artistic level. I don't try to be negative. Maybe I just needed a coffee or something.

Well here's a musician who has yet to really be discovered.  While we continue to get inundated by singers who deliver dreary ballad-based repertoire with clenched mouths and vacant expressions, packaged in the blandest of generic musical settings and who are clearly being rammed down our throats by the ubiquitousness of their images in the media, here is an example of someone who is well deserved of our attention.

I've been aware of Champian Fulton only for a few months and have yet to see her perform but I sincerely hope someone, somewhere in the world of corporate jazz takes notice of her. Here's a little taste for you. Enjoy!




You know what, I'm not even finished talking about her. I just watched this again and I'm really blown away. She has an enormous sense of swing, poise at the piano, and a phrasing that is already, at the age of 27, coming together for her.  For me her credibility as a musician stems from her ability to elevate a standard tune to an artistic level while at the same time having fun with the music. One really needs to believe in this music in order to do that. They really need to be breathing it and not just performing standards as "covers".  The feeling for me is one of hearing a performance of a standard tune and having that song sound as if I've never heard it before and I'm falling in love with it for the first time. And let's face it for most of these tunes at this point one might argue that we have more reason to hate them than to love them given the accumulation of shmaltzy, mediocre performances we have of them.

I'm just so heartened by how real and honest this concert sounds. Here's another video.