Tia Fuller may look and pose like Donna Summer’s Bad Girls album, but she plays like she just stepped out of a vintage Blue Note session on this hard hitting album with all stars Jack DeJohnette-Bill Stewart/dr, James Genus-Dave Holland/b, Terri Lyne Carrington/perc, Sam Yahel/org and Adam Rogers/g.
Her strong and muscular tone on alto sax works well with Rogers’ dark shadows on the ESP-ish “In the Trenches” while her warm vibrato coos on the gentle and fragrant “Save Your Love For Me.” She flexes her biceps as she goes mano a mano with DeJohnnette on the fierce “Joe’n Around” and tears into a funky groove with Yahel’s keys on the Afro Cuban “The Coming” while Soul Eyes has a snappy tropical pulse. On soprano, she’s sweet as sorghum as she hops around the dancing cymbals on “Delight” and does a gorgeous sonata dueting with Holland on the dreamy “Tears of Santa Barbara.” Portrayed as a smooth jazzer, she’s more like a poster child for Muscle Beach.