At a dinner party hosted by Scott Asen, the founder of Turtle Bay Records, pianist-singer Champian Fulton and altoist/clarinetist Klas Lindquist performed a set of duets. Asen enjoyed the relaxed music so much that he knew that he wanted to record the duo. A few months later at two sessions held at the same location, he achieved his goal.
At Home is Champian Fulton’s 19th album as a leader since 2007. Readers of The Syncopated Times will be well acquainted with her musical talents. Klas Lindquist, who is from Sweden, leads a regular nonet, has worked with top Swedish players (including pianist Jan Lundgren), has been featured with the Stockholm Swing All Stars, and has worked with Champian Fulton when she tours Scandinavia. He has led five albums of his own and early on played trad jazz with the Second Line Jazzband and Kustbandet.
The team of Champian Fulton and Klas Lindquist sounds spontaneous throughout At Home, performing standards, a Blossom Dearie tune, and a blues. They make every note count during their relaxed set. The CD begins with a warm version of “The Very Thought Of You,” a medium-tempo blues (“Don’t Do That To Me”), and a joyful “You Can Depend On Me.” Fulton, who takes vocals on half of the performances, is at her best during a thoughtful and much slower-than-usual version of “Tea For Two” with both of the musicians definitely taking their time. Lindquist is featured on clarinet during “Serenade In Blue” and alto (mostly just playing the melody) on “Besame Mucho.” Other selections include a soulful rendition of Dearie’s “I Was Looking For You,” happily swinging versions of “Someday You’ll Be Sorry” and “My Monday Date,” and a heartfelt “P.S. I Love You.”
At Home gives one a good idea what it would sound like if they had the wisdom to hire Champian Fulton and Klas Lindquist to play at a dinner party, certainly a delightful idea.
Champian Fulton and Klas Lindquist • At Home
Turtle Bay TBR 25002
www.turtlebayrecords.com
Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.
