Champian Fulton: “Jazz is a perfect representation of the American culture, of people who value freedom and pursue their happiness”

You were born into a family of musicians. Do you remember when your fascination with jazz first arose? 

My father is a jazz musician and he always had a lot of musician friends around the house like Clark Terry and Joe Williams, and I love the music so much but I also loved how much fun they were having and from a very early age I know I wanted to be a part of it.

You had your first concert when you were only 10 years old. What do you remember about that day? 

So that the first performance was for Clark Terry‘s 75th birthday party, and that was my first paying gig. It was very exciting! The thing I remember most was Clark paying me and explaining to me about paying the sidemen. It was the first time I felt like a real Jazz musician. Clark Terry has always been a musical reference for me. My favorites are mostly the same as when I was a child. I love Dinah Washington, Erroll Garner, Red Garland, Count Basie.

When did you realize that your instruments would be piano and voice? 

I always loved singing but I tried other instruments such as the drums, the bass, the trumpet and the piano. I loved the piano because it compliments the voice so well, and you’re in charge on the bandstand which I also like.

Speaking of bandstands, you have played alongside great names, such as Lou Donaldson, Buster Williams or Louis Hayes. What was that experience like and what did you learn from it? 

Being able to share the stage with my heroes is so wonderful, it is the best feeling in the world to be able to join such masters & feel a direct line of lineage in the history of the music.

This March you will visit Barcelona again. What do you like most about being able to play in the Catalan capital? 

I love Barcelona so much because the feeling of the audiences in Barcelona are so warm, and they just really make me feel like playing music. I think the jazz community in Barcelona is really beautiful, because you have so many young people really interested in the music. And you have so many wonderful jazz fans! So I always really look forward to the audiences there. I have played in a lot of countries, but I don’t change my Setlist when I travel. I just play whatever I feel like playing on that particular day. In Barcelona, I always feel like the audience is so warm and receptive that I look forward to playing there.

Jazz is often spoken of more as a language than as a musical style. 

Yes I think Jazz is spoken of as a language because it is more a way of life than just a musical style. It’s not something you can just learn from a book or at school, but something that you must be a part of in terms of a historic lineage and community. I want people to feel happiness and to feel like they are part of the Jazz community, that we are together.

What does jazz mean for the United States? 

I think Jazz is a perfect representation of the American culture, of people who value freedom and the freedom to express themselves and pursue their happiness in spite of the challenges of modern life. Beyond the United States, I think all people around the world can relate to and appreciate the desire to express themselves in their own unique way, and to pursue happiness and joy on a daily basis in the face of challenges

Let’s talk about the role of women in the world of jazz. Most of the names that have gone down in history are of singers, and not of female instrumentalists or conductors. Is that changing? 

Maybe. I honestly don’t think too much about gender with regard to myself or other musicians, I tend to just think of our music and what we play, how we play it. I would like to be thought of as a Pianist and Vocalist more than as a woman in Jazz

Beyond the stage, you also participate in educational jazz programs. Is it still a musical style that is not well regulated?  

I think it is not well regulated in terms of training because too many people are involved in teaching it who don’t know anything about it. A very good jazz educator is rare. As I said it’s more than just what you can learn from a book or in a class, so you must be a real Jazz Musician to convey that to the students.

In Barcelona, ​​in terms of training, jazz and modern music have not yet found their place in our local music conservatories for example. Instead, other programs have flourished in parallel such as the Taller de Músics.

Yes, I think you have some wonderful jazz programs in Barcelona, but they are mostly outside of the conservatories. I think classical music does still dominate the training spaces because it has become more codified over the years, and because of that it’s easier to teach. I think it is too difficult to codify and regulate Jazz because it is so individualized, and it must be learned in a mentor fashion. One Jazz Musician must teach another and so on, and because of that, it means the learning process takes a significant amount of time. I would like to see more serious jazz education, but in our current environment of people seeking immediate satisfaction I think that is difficult to achieve.

What differences do you see between the jazz training systems in Barcelona and in the United States? 

I actually think you have one of the best jazz education programs in the work of Joan Chamorro, and I think what he does with his students is great. I think both countries face the same cultural difficulties in teaching this music because we share many similar cultural values.