Alto/soprano saxophonist/flautist Tia Fuller's newest Mack Avenue release Decisive Steps is a sumptuous CD of ten tracks that illustrate her artistic fearlessness. A member of Beyoncé's band for four years, Fuller's agile, buoyant and elegant full-bodied sax lines effortlessly improvise a number of moods and grooves, as evidenced by the take-no-prisoners tempo of the title track. The album also contains her ingenious reworking of two well-worn standards: "I Can't Get Started and "My Shining Hour."

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Decisive Steps features Tia's Beyoncé bandmate, drummer Kim Thompson; bassist Miriam Sullivan; Fuller's sister, Shamie Royston on piano and Fender Rhodes; with special guests, trumpeter Sean Jones and bassist Christian McBride (both Mack Avenue label mates); vibraphonist Warren Wolf; and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut.

Fuller's sound is soaring, supple and in-the-pocket from years of channeling her horn heroes: Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, and recently, Earl Bostic, "one of the saxophone legends that mastered the art of playing in the R&B world, the pop world and the jazz world...ultimately speaking the language and dialect of each genre."





Buy "Decisive Steps" and "Healing Space" on iTunes

Tour Dates
5/10 - New York, NY, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola @ Lincoln Center (CD Release Party)
5/15 - Purchase, NY, Jazz Elite at Purchase College
5/19 - New York, NY, Convention: hosted by Magic Johnson (playing: America The Beautiful)
6/4 - Oklahoma City, OK, Jazz Festival (fea. Straight Ahead)
6/5 - Harlem, NY, Londel's Restaurant (w/Brandon Sanders Trio)
6/12 - Harrisburg, PA, PA Jazz Festival
6/14 - New York, NY, 2010 Jazz Journalists Awards at City Winery
6/19 - Seaport, CT, Jazz Festival (w/ Wycliffe Gordon Quintet)
9/1-9/4 - Grosse Pointe, MI, Dirty Dog Jazz Café
9/12 - Somerville, NJ, Somerville Jazz Festival

Look for Tia on the cover of JazzTimes' June issue!