NOT SAXOPHONIST TIA FULLER'S BEST HOUR AT THE NEW STANDARDS JAZZ CRAWL

Saxophonist Tia Fuller

There were several annoyances at saxophonist Tia Fuller's concert Friday evening at the Detroit Institute for the Arts. Fuller, one of the leading saxophonists of her generation, was part of the Carr Center's New Standards Jazz Crawl showcase, featuring some of the best female jazz musicians on the planet at The Detroit Public Library, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Carr Center. Unfortunately, Fuller's set started a half-hour late. She apologized for the delay, confessing the band was still getting dressed and eating at 7:30 pm when the concert was scheduled to commence. There were also technical issues. The opening songs her quartet performed, you could barely hear the pianist. I'm a Tia Fuller admirer, and I've attended most of her performances in Detroit. It's painful to write that Friday evening was the first time I'd witnessed her do more talking than blowing. Her quartet—pianist Shamie Royston, bassist Mimi Jones, and drummer Kobe Royston—performed cuts from Fuller's 2019 Grammy-nominated gem Diamond Cut. Interspersed between some brilliant playing by the quartet, Fuller felt it was essential to explain the symbolic meaning of the development of diamonds, which I found difficult to comprehend. Then again, I'm a music blogger, not a gemologist. Annoyances aside, the concert offered some praiseworthy moments. On the title cut from Fuller's forthcoming album Intersections, she initiated a terrific exchange with Kobe Royston. It began with them horsing around. Fuller did some rhythmic tricks on the alto sax, and Royston countered with a deluge of rimshots. The exchange became more heated and meaningful as they exposed the marrow of the song. Kobe is still in college, but his drumming has a maturity that generally takes years for an upstart to perfect. He never showboated when the zoom lens was cast on him. Hands down, Shamie Royston, was the crowd favorite. She had the piano testifying on The Coming and Delight and the most goose-bump inducing solos. On up-tempo songs, how her hands sprinted and tumbled across the keys compares to pianists Cyrus Chestnut's and Myra Melford's style. When Fuller wasn't going on and on about the origins and intricacies of diamonds, her blowing was superb. She gobbled the chord changes to Queen Intuition like Halloween candy. Near the end of the set, Fuller surprised the audience by singing a Cole Porter song. I say surprised because I'd wager few of Fuller's Detroit fans knew she was interested in singing. Again, I'm a Tia Fuller admirer, so I loathe writing her singing was subpar, and I dislike that she's added that to her game. Some instrumentalists feel called to sing these days. Most have never taken vocal lessons. I wonder if any professional jazz vocalists find this as I do bothersome. Had Fuller adhered exclusively to the music and focused less on explaining the development of diamonds, the concert could've been one of the best the Carr Center has sponsored this year.