(Post-Bop, Contemporary Jazz) Tia Fuller (feat. John Patitucci, Terri Lynne Carrington, Dianne Reeves) - Angelic Warrior - 2012 [Mack Avenue], WEB, FLAC (tracks), lossless

The title of saxophonist Tia Fuller's third album for the Mack Avenue imprint is a bit of an oxymoron, yet it fits her sound so well. Fuller's saxophone work exhibits a bright tone, but her soloing is often full of dark thoughts and her oft-agreeable and positive musical persona belies the fact that she has razor sharp chops that can dig into the auditory canal in powerful and pleasurable ways.
Fuller is constantly at work, but her own music has often been put on the back burner so she can lend her soulful sound to artists like pop star Beyoncé or bassist/vocalist extraordinaire Esperanza Spalding. Thankfully, she took the time to focus on her own music again, fully investing herself in original works on Angelic Warrior. Fuller penned ten of the thirteen tracks for this outing, and each one was built with a solid sense of purpose and passion. The driving "Royston Rumble," which highlights the chemistry between her sister/pianist Shamie Royston and brother-in-law/drummer Rudy Royston starts things off with a bang. Shamie takes a McCoy Tyner-derived, percussive approach to the piano here and Rudy stirs up a storm with his cyclonic drumming. This is the first of five tracks to feature John Patitucci's guitar-like piccolo bass work and his playing is nothing short of remarkable. His dexterous skills on this axe make him a fully capable front line partner for Fuller, and he sounds like a new man as he leaves the bottom end of the sound spectrum behind.
Light Latin underpinnings ("Ralphie's Groove"), slamming, contemporary soul jazz fusion ("Tailor Made"), a bout of slightly mournful elegance ("Core Of Me"), and swing ("Simpli-City") all surface at one time or another as Fuller fully embraces the concept of stylistic variety. She can exhibit poetic grace, as demonstrated on the two "Ode To Be" vignettes, but she can also get down and dirty, as shown during a saxophone-drums-bass three way on a Cole Porter mash-up entitled "So In Love With All Of You." While this standard(s) rewrite proves to be one of the strongest performances on the album, the other two classics included on the playlist don't work quite as well. The rumbling undercarriage of "Cherokee" proves to be too distracting and "Body and Soul," which features vocalist Dianne Reeves, is a little out of place. This harmonically tweaked, neo-soul take on this oft-performed number feels a bit stiff and uncomfortable compared to the other material on this date; it might have worked better as a bonus track.
On the whole, Fuller finds sure-footing and artistic success as she molds all of the elements in the modern jazz melting pot to her liking. She is fierce, friendly, cutting, kind and calculating all at once; Tia Fuller is the angelic warrior of which she speaks. (Dan Bilawski)

I’ve admired Tia Fuller since I first heard her live about four years ago. Following her well-received Mack Avenue debut, Decisive Steps, Tia now takes “giant steps” on Angelic Warrior with her current touring quartet-- sister Shamie Royston on piano, Mimi Jones on bass, and brother-in-law Rudy Royston on drums. Special guests include bassist John Patitucci on 6 tracks (electric, piccolo and acoustic basses), drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and percussionist Shirazette Tinnin on 3 tracks each, and vocalist Dianne Reeves on “Body and Soul.” Fuller’s first release since leaving a long and productive tenure with Beyoncé, she wastes no time reminding us that she is first and foremost an energetic, expressive “warrior,” one of the top performers of her generation, and a rising star composer as well. Of the album’s concept, Fuller notes, “While writing this album, I was balancing different aspects in my life and career…trying to pull from the ‘warrior’ energy, while remaining graceful [angelic] in my spirit.”
Tia penned ten of the thirteen tracks and carefully selected a few standards to celebrate the “angels” in her life – family and friends. Her compositions range from the celebratory “Royston Rumble” (honoring the nearly 20-year marriage of Shamie and Rudy) and the drum-driven beat and soprano sax antics of “Ralphie’s Groove” (inspired by early employer Ralph Peterson) to the glorious title tune inspired by Carrington, Fuller’s model of the “angelic warrior”; Carrington appears on this track, providing a militaristic beat to counter Tia’s heaven-high soprano—yet Fuller also serves up a hefty helping of the warrior spirit as the track evolves. “Lil ‘Les” was written as a “toy playing theme” for a friend’s yet-unborn child, Tia delicately floating above the electrified guitar-like lines of Patitucci; Shamie Royston’s touch is clean, lyrical and swinging.
Tia wrote the rhythmically engaging “Descend to Barbados” on a flight to that island nation, dedicated to bassist Mimi Jones whose parents are Barbadian. The combination of two percussionists and two bassists infuses considerable tropical energy.
The soulful funk-informed “Tailor-Made” was written for a friend who loved 70s R&B, further influenced by Esperanza Spalding’s “Winter Sun.” It’s hard to remember Patitucci is not playing guitar here, and Shamie Royston’s Rhodes, with Rudy’s back-beating drums, further create a danceable, R&B groove that Beyoncé would surely love. “Core of Me” is a short (2 ½ minutes) ballad with the home team foursome, highlighting Tia’s melodic and reverent side, while “Simpli-City,” with the same quartet, contrasts relaxed melody and more frenetic exploration.
Of the standards, both “Body and Soul” and “Cherokee” arguably have been covered to death, but the addition of Reeves’ vocals gives B&S a new sound, more prayerful; Tia comes in after a full run through the lyric, weaving in and out of Reeves’ vocalese with a slightly funky slant; the final verse is a glorious collaboration of the two “voices.” There’s a decidedly African undercurrent to “Cherokee” as Carrington and Rudy Royston go full tilt from stop to finish, while Tia nods to Charlie Parker in spirit but cranks up the heat to burn her own brand with authority. The drummers shine in a very different light on “So in Love With All of You,” Tia’s merging of two Cole Porter tunes (“So In Love”/ “All of You”), which also features the one (magnificent) acoustic contribution from Patitucci. The arrangement of soprano sax with just bass and percussion puts a fresh emphasis on the melody while providing a Monkish rhythm.
Tia’s very brief mid-point “breather” and finale, her two parts of “Ode to Be,” reference employer/mentor Beyoncé as well as “just being.” Bass and drums stay in the background, as Tia and Shamie create a beautiful hymn, part one fading out, part two fading in to complete the brief cycle, ending the recording on angelic notes. And by this point, the listener is fully aware that this “angel” is indeed a jazz warrior, fully armed not only with her instruments, but with her “weapons” of composing, arranging, conceptualizing, and bandleading, and with cohorts who are quite formidable in their own right. Surely this is Tia Fuller’s strongest statement to date, and one of the strongest statements of any jazz artist in 2012. (Andrea Canter)