Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
After performing and giving a presentation at California State University-Monterey Bay, saxophonist Tia Fuller (shown here) and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen participate in the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Jazz in the Schools in Monterey County earlier in March.
(Photo: Randy Tunnel/Monterey Jazz Festival)The oldest continuous jazz festival in the world and the second-newest school in the California State University system launched a new partnership when alto saxophonist Tia Fuller, who is a 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival co-artist-in-residence, gave a talk and led a quartet performance in Seaside.
Fuller’s “From Beyoncé and Beyond: Music Business, Performance and Leadership” presentation on March 5 at California State University-Monterey Bay was the inaugural event in a series hosted by the school and festival that aims to connect the two organizations.
Joined by pianist Eddie Mendenhall (a MJF High School All-Star Band alumnus), bassist Katie Thiroux (a past Next Generation Festival participant and one-time Next Generation Jazz Orchestra member) and drummer-percussionist Marcie Chapa, Fuller began the evening with Cole Porter’s “I Love You,” Joe Henderson’s “Recorda Me” and an original lullaby the bandleader penned for a friend’s newborn child.
For her nearly 45-minute presentation, which was bracketed by her performances, Fuller drew from her own experiences to share tips and advice. While the most common question she gets is “Is Beyoncé nice?” Fuller said she learned innumerable lessons while touring as part of “The Beyoncé Experience” and “I Am …” world tours.
“Everything happens for a purpose or a reason,” she declared, before presenting three qualities—vision, perseverance and optimism—that have guided her musical journey. Reflecting on her childhood in Denver and her early days in New York playing with T.S. Monk and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, she recalled the tiers of rehearsals she had to go through before learning in 2006 that she’d landed a spot in Beyoncé’s backing tentet.
It was the type of wisdom one might gather at an after-gig hang, but distilled in a compelling multi-media lecture.
Chapa remained on stage to help contribute to some of Fuller’s anecdotes, and Thiroux and Mendenhall returned to the bandstand for two closing numbers—a contemporary reading of “Body & Soul” with the bandleader on vocals (subbing for Dianne Reeves, who sang the tune on Fuller’s 2012 Angelic Warrior) and an unannounced bop-ish tune.
The following day, Fuller and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, the other 2018 MJF co-artist-in-residence, remained in the area to participate in MJF’s Jazz in the Schools outreach in Monterey County before serving as Next Generation Festival adjudicators, clinicians and performers that weekend.
Between the charismatic quartet show and Fuller’s inspiring chat, the first event in this new partnership offered unique insight into the career and performance life of one of the genre’s best-known saxophonists. DB
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
Butcher Brown, clockwise from top left: Marcus Tenney, DJ Harrison, Morgan Burrs, Corey Fonville and Andrew Randazzo. (Keyboardist Harrison couldn’t make the gig, so special guest Jacob Mann sat in with the band at the Reno Jazz Festival.)
Aug 19, 2025 12:41 PM
The band known as Butcher Brown has enjoyed the last half-decade basking in the glow from the twin engines of critical…
This year’s Jazz em Agosto set by the Darius Jones Trio captured the titular alto saxophonist at his most ferocious.
Aug 26, 2025 1:31 PM
The organizers of Lisbon, Portugal’s Jazz em Agosto Festival assume its audience is thoughtful and independent. Over…
