Tia Fuller

Last updated

Tia Fuller
Tia fuller 06N6587.jpg
Tia Fuller, Moers Festival 2011
Background information
Born (1976-03-27) March 27, 1976 (age 48)
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, educator
InstrumentSaxophone
Labels Mack Avenue
Website www.tiafuller.com
Tia Fuller in concert Tia Fuller in concert.jpg
Tia Fuller in concert

Tia Fuller (born March 27, 1976) is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator, and a member of the all-female band touring with Beyoncé. Fuller is currently a faculty member in the ensembles department at Berklee College of Music. [1] Fuller was a Featured Jazz Musician in Pixar's animated film Soul. For the film Fuller plays an alto saxophone with a Vandoren mouthpiece for the character Dorothea Williams. The appearance of Dorothea Williams is influenced by Fuller, and the character's speaking lines are voiced by Angela Bassett. [2]

Contents

Background

Fuller was born in Aurora, Colorado to jazz musicians Fred and Elthopia Fuller. [3] Her father, Fred, plays bass and her mother, Ethiopia, sings. She grew up playing classical piano at the age of three and listening to her parents rehearse in the basement of their home, as well as to the music of John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan and Charlie Parker. She studied classical piano for 10 years, started playing the flute at the age of nine, and took up the saxophone and became interested in jazz in high school. [3] Her sister, Shamie Royston, is a jazz pianist and a regular member of Fuller's ensemble. [4]

Fuller began playing saxophone at Gateway High School, after which she continued her musical education at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, under the tutelage of Joseph Jennings. [5] While at Spelman, she performed with Ray Charles. [6] In 1998, she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, and later went on to complete a Master's in Music, Jazz Pedagogy, and Performance in 2000 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. [5]

Career

Fuller has regularly performed with a number of jazz artists, including Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ralph Peterson Septet, the T.S. Monk Septet, the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, the Rufus Reid Septet, the Sean Jones Quintet and the Nancy Wilson Jazz Orchestra.

Fuller has led a quartet which includes Shamie Royston on piano, Kim Thompson on drums, and Miriam Sullivan on bass, and with whom she has recorded the albums Pillar of Strength (2005, Wambui), Healing Space (2007, Mack Avenue), and Decisive Steps (2010, Mack Avenue).

In 2006, she was a member of the all-female band touring with Beyoncé. [7] [8]

In 2012, she toured with Esperanza Spalding as leader of the Radio Music Society horn section, in which she played saxophone in dialogue with Spalding's scat singing.

In 2019, she recorded with Roy Haynes, Jon Batiste, Linda May Han Oh and Marcus Gilmore for The Walt Disney Company's movie Soul . [2]

Fuller was nominated for a Grammy Award for her 2019 album Diamond Cut, [9] produced by Terri Lyne Carrington, whom she has described as one of her mentors. [10]

She was artist in residence at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. [11] [12]

She teaches at Berklee College of Music. [13]

Discography

As leader

Compilations

As sideman

with Joe Budden
with Miki Hayama
with Sean Jones
with Brad Leali
with Nancy Wilson

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Shorter</span> American jazz saxophonist and composer (1933–2023)

Wayne Shorter was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary composer. In 1964 he joined Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report in 1970. He recorded more than 20 albums as a bandleader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellowjackets (band)</span> American jazz fusion band

Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monterey Jazz Festival</span> Annual music festival in California since 1958

The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terri Lyne Carrington</span> American drummer (born 1965)

Terri Lyne Carrington is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and many others. She toured with each of Hancock's musical configurations between 1997 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Jones (trumpeter)</span> American trumpeter and composer

Sean Jones is an American trumpeter and composer featured on the 2007 Grammy Award-winning album Turned to Blue by Nancy Wilson. As a bandleader, Jones has released eight albums under the Mack Avenue Records label. He performs with his own groups both nationally and internationally. Jones often plays at music venues and jazz festivals such as the Monterey Jazz Festival, Detroit International Jazz Festival, the Vail Jazz Festival and Montreal International Jazz Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretchen Parlato</span> American jazz singer

Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esperanza Spalding</span> American jazz bassist and singer

Esperanza Emily Spalding is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, a Soul Train Music Award, and two honorary doctorates: one from her alma mater Berklee College of Music and one from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

<i>Esperanza</i> (Esperanza Spalding album) 2008 studio album by Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza is the second studio album by American bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding. It was released on May 20, 2008 by Heads Up International.

The Panama Jazz Festival was founded in September 2003 by pianist and Grammy winner Danilo Pérez.

The American Music Program is a youth jazz band in Portland, Oregon founded by jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator Thara Memory. This non-profit youth music program mentors primary school students from 7th-12th grade. On May 9, 2015, the group won Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington Competition, playing Ellington's Tattooed Bride from memory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Kelly (musician)</span> American jazz musician

Grace Kelly is an American jazz musician, composer, and arranger. Kelly has produced and released recordings of her own, scored soundtracks, and tours with her band. She was named one of Glamour magazine's Top 10 College Women in 2011; and she has been featured on CNN.com and on the NPR radio shows Piano Jazz with both Marian McPartland and Jon Weber, as well as on WBGO's JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tineke Postma</span> Dutch jazz saxophonist

Tineke Postma is a Dutch jazz saxophonist and composer.

<i>The Mosaic Project</i> (album) 2011 studio album by Terri Lyne Carrington

The Mosaic Project is an album by jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington released in 2011 on Concord Jazz Records. The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and No. 4 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart.

<i>Radio Music Society</i> 2012 studio album by Esperanza Spalding

Radio Music Society is the fourth studio album by Esperanza Spalding, which was released through the record label Heads Up International on March 20, 2012. The album earned Spalding Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the track, "City of Roses".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Landrus</span> American jazz musician

Brian Landrus is a jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator.

Mimi Jones is an American bassist, vocalist, composer, bandleader, education and founder of Hot Tone Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Caswell</span> American violinist

Sara Caswell is an American violinist who has worked with 9 Horses, Esperanza Spalding, and David Krakauer.

Vadim Neselovskyi is a Ukrainian pianist and composer based in New York City. He currently serves as a professor of jazz piano at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Neselovskyi joined 6-Time Grammy Winner Gary Burton’s Generations Quintet of future all-stars including Julian Lage, Luques Curtis, and James Williams in 2004 and has been working as Gary Burton’s pianist and arranger for more than a decade, touring the US, Europe, and Japan. His recent appearances with Burton include Newport Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival and Detroit Jazz Festival. His work can be heard on three Gary Burton’s recordings: Next Generation (Concord) as a pianist, composer and arranger, If You Love Me as an arranger and on Common Ground as a composer. The "Next Generation" CD has reached Nr.1 on Jazzweek chart in US on April 27, 2005.

Suga Mama was an American all-female live performance band formed by Beyoncé Knowles in 2006. Named after Knowles' song from her 2006 album B'Day, and ranging from nine to twelve members at various times, the band contained percussionists, guitarists, saxophonists, keyboardists, and The Mamas: a trio of background vocalists. Various members of the band have appeared in music videos for "Irreplaceable", "Blow", "Countdown", and "Green Light", as well as multiple live performance DVD releases, award show performances, various TV Specials/appearances, and the Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show. Several band-members continue to work alongside Knowles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elena Pinderhughes</span> Musical artist

Elena Pinderhughes is an American jazz flutist, singer, and composer. She has toured extensively with jazz trumpeter Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah and has also performed with Herbie Hancock, Common, Esperanza Spalding, Vijay Iyer, Lionel Loueke, Carlos Santana, and Josh Groban.

References

  1. ↑ "Berklee Ensembles: Latin Jazz, South American Folkloric Music, and More". Berklee College of Music . Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Berklee Professor Brings Soul Music to Life". Berklee.edu. December 23, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Cristi, A. A. (November 2, 2022). "Tia Fuller Kicks Off The August Wilson African-American Cultural Center's Uhuru Jazz Series November 12". Broadway World.
  4. ↑ "Shamie Royston Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Tia Fuller Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Tia Fuller, Fierce Woman in Jazz, Takes Shot at 1st Grammy". WBUR. January 14, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Beyoncé sax player Tia Fuller lands in SF Bay Area for 3 shows". The Mercury News. June 5, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Beyoncé and Beyond" . Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Meet the First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Tia Fuller on Growth, Artistic Vision & Leading by Example".
  10. ↑ Fuller, Tia (February 10, 2019). "2019 Grammy Awards: Why I'm using my nomination to speak out about sexism in the world of jazz". NBC News.
  11. ↑ Adams, Jordan. "Patti LaBelle Headlines the Eclectic Burlington Discover Jazz Festival". Seven Days. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  12. ↑ Correspondent, Tom Huntington Arts (May 25, 2019). "Discover Jazz Festival: Fresh sounds abound in FlynnSpace". Rutland Herald. Retrieved June 14, 2019.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ↑ "Tia Fuller, Fierce Woman In Jazz, Takes Shot At 1st Grammy". www.wbur.org. January 14, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.