Biography
Tia Fuller, a saxophonist recognized for her expressive and innovative sensibility, directs her energies toward soulful, expansive jazz. Leading personal projects from the early 2000s onward, she later attained wider visibility as a supporting player for Beyoncé on tour. Skilled on alto and soprano saxophone as well as flute, she has issued several respected recordings for Mack Avenue, among them Healing Space in 2007 and Angelic Warrior in 2012; both display her harmonically detailed compositions and energetic reading of post-bop jazz. Service in Beyoncé’s all-female ensemble Suga Mama has placed her on multiple live albums by the singer, including I Am...Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas. Outside her own discography, she has appeared on releases by Sean Jones, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Dianne Reeves.
Fuller was born in 1976 in Aurora, Colorado, and raised in a household that balanced music with academic priorities, the daughter of two public school teachers. Her parents maintained a deep affection for jazz, and she credits her bassist father and singer mother with instilling an early love for the music in herself and her sister, pianist Shamie Royston. Classical piano study began at age three, and by middle school she had taken up flute and saxophone. In 1998 she received a B.A. in Music from Spelman College in Atlanta, graduating Magna Cum Laude under the guidance of saxophonist Joe Jennings. Two years later she earned a Master’s in Music, Jazz Pedagogy, and Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder, finishing Summa Cum Laude.
Afterward she settled in New Jersey City and established herself as a versatile sideman, working with the Ellington Big Band, T.S. Monk, Don Byron, Wycliffe Gordon, Ralph Peterson, Jon Faddis, Gerald Wilson, Don Braden, and Nancy Wilson, among others. While leading her own groups she attracted the notice of Beyoncé’s management, which booked her for several U.S. and European tours, including the I AM..Sasha Fierce Tour and Beyoncé Experience World Tour. She continued to develop her solo catalog, releasing the debut Pillar of Strength in 2005, then signing with Mack Avenue for the follow-up Healing Space. Decisive Steps, her third album, appeared in 2010 and featured her sister Shamie Royston on piano, drummer Kim Thompson, bassist Miriam Sullivan, plus guests bassist Christian McBride, trumpeter Sean Jones, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut; it reached number 50 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart.
Beyond performing, Fuller leads clinics and master classes at the Jazz Institute of New Jersey, the Mile High Jazz Camp, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Drexel University, Montclair State University, and New Mexico State University. Angelic Warrior, her fourth album from 2012, again included pianist Royston and bassist Rudy Royston, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, John Patitucci, and guest vocalist Dianne Reeves, peaking at number 34 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart. The subsequent release, Diamond Cut in 2018, climbed higher to number 23 and enlisted bassist James Genus, drummer Jack DeJohnette, drummer Bill Stewart, guitarist Adam Rogers, and organist Sam Yahel.
Fuller was born in 1976 in Aurora, Colorado, and raised in a household that balanced music with academic priorities, the daughter of two public school teachers. Her parents maintained a deep affection for jazz, and she credits her bassist father and singer mother with instilling an early love for the music in herself and her sister, pianist Shamie Royston. Classical piano study began at age three, and by middle school she had taken up flute and saxophone. In 1998 she received a B.A. in Music from Spelman College in Atlanta, graduating Magna Cum Laude under the guidance of saxophonist Joe Jennings. Two years later she earned a Master’s in Music, Jazz Pedagogy, and Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder, finishing Summa Cum Laude.
Afterward she settled in New Jersey City and established herself as a versatile sideman, working with the Ellington Big Band, T.S. Monk, Don Byron, Wycliffe Gordon, Ralph Peterson, Jon Faddis, Gerald Wilson, Don Braden, and Nancy Wilson, among others. While leading her own groups she attracted the notice of Beyoncé’s management, which booked her for several U.S. and European tours, including the I AM..Sasha Fierce Tour and Beyoncé Experience World Tour. She continued to develop her solo catalog, releasing the debut Pillar of Strength in 2005, then signing with Mack Avenue for the follow-up Healing Space. Decisive Steps, her third album, appeared in 2010 and featured her sister Shamie Royston on piano, drummer Kim Thompson, bassist Miriam Sullivan, plus guests bassist Christian McBride, trumpeter Sean Jones, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut; it reached number 50 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart.
Beyond performing, Fuller leads clinics and master classes at the Jazz Institute of New Jersey, the Mile High Jazz Camp, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Drexel University, Montclair State University, and New Mexico State University. Angelic Warrior, her fourth album from 2012, again included pianist Royston and bassist Rudy Royston, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, John Patitucci, and guest vocalist Dianne Reeves, peaking at number 34 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart. The subsequent release, Diamond Cut in 2018, climbed higher to number 23 and enlisted bassist James Genus, drummer Jack DeJohnette, drummer Bill Stewart, guitarist Adam Rogers, and organist Sam Yahel.
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