Fuller Soars as DR Jazz Festival Spotlights Female Artists

By Ted Panken I Nov. 17, 2016

Tia Fuller performed at the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival on Nov. 10.
(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)

The next morning brought an epic two-and-a-half hour drive along narrow back roads from Santiago to the north coast (the main highway was flooded). The evening brought a harrowing drive through torrential rain along an unlit, heavily trafficked two-lane highway from the Festival’s base in Cabarete to the central plaza—dating to the 18th century—of Puerto Plata, the provincial capital.

At 9 p.m., as if on cue, the rain stopped and the plaza filled, just in time for Dominican singer Sabrina Estepan to present a rather mannered, campy, cabaret-like set of primarily Spanish-language standards, but also a stirring English-language rendition of “Feeling Good” in homage to Nina Simone.

There followed a powerful set by saxophonist Tia Fuller—her energy undiminished after conducting a morning workshop with elementary school children at a school near the plaza, then a one-hour rehearsal, then a luncheon interview, and a soundcheck in the rain. She appeared with a quartet featuring her sister, Shamie Royston, on piano; Linda Oh on bass; and Terreon Gully on drums.

Fuller described the concert to follow as a journey about the “angelic warrior,” as she titled her most recent leader album, from 2012. Gully introduced “Ralphie’s Groove,” dedicated to drummer Ralph Peterson, a mentor and one-time employer, with rumbling beats that denoted the unrelenting intensity of the dedicatee. Peterson’s warmth came through in the sweet melody, which Fuller extrapolated on soprano with increasing complexity and intensity.

After Oh’s clear, logical bass solo, Fuller embarked on a second go-round, this one involving creative melodic variations and shifting attacks.

Fuller switched to alto for “Decisive Steps,” the title track of her second Mack Avenue album. After another elemental melody, she burst from the blocks with a galloping “burnout” solo, paused while Gully expressed himself, then engaged in intense alto-drum dialog. Royston counterstated with an “angelic” investigation of the harmonic colors implied by the refrain. Gully concluded with variations on a polyrhythmic groove.

Royston opened her original ballad, “Windsoar,” with solo reflections that morphed from rubato into tempo; Fuller built from pianissimo to fortissimo, spanning the alto’s registral range in the course of her solo.

There followed Fuller’s “Little Les,” a “lullaby” composed for a friend’s daughter, that featured Oh’s thoughtful exposition; heartfelt melodic variations from Royston and Fuller; a lucid Fuller-Oh duo; and a solo alto coda on which the leader quoted Charlie Parker.

Fuller’s treatment of Cole Porter’s “I Love You” involved a straight melody reading against a funky lock by Oh and Gully, and then a refreshing 4/4 section in which Fuller ebulliently swung on alto. Royston’s declamation featured coruscating double-time passages, trills that established tension and release, and a percussive piano-as-drum episode that provoked a return to funkiness.

On the set-closing “Angelic Warrior” (the title track of her fourth album), Fuller blew fiercely, like her life depended on it, as she had done during the master class for the children and at the earlier rehearsal.

She’ll enter the studio in December to record her next Mack Avenue disc. (Bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette will participate, among others.) We certainly look forward to the results when the album is released. DB