Adison's Hero

Adison's Hero

Bruce Von Stiers

She has been on stage with Tricia Yearwood and Wynton Marsalis. She was at Julliard. A constant member of Beyonce's musical crew, she's been seen in several of the star's music videos, DVD's and television specials. If you watched Beyonce's performance at the 2013 Superbowl halftime show, you saw this lady too. Her name is Adison Evans and she is a terrific jazz saxophonist.

Even though Adison is comfortable playing and recording with other people, she decided to branch out on her own. Adison just released her debut album titled Hero. This album is Adison's tribute to a few of the artists who've either helped her get a step up or inspired her in some way.

Adison produced the album and wrote several of the compositions. The album is being released on her label, AdiTone Records. There are twelves song on the album and it has a play time of fifty-eight minutes.

He's recorded with the Ryan Truesdell Gil Evans Project and Melissa Gardiner. Here Matthew Jodrell shares his talents on both the trumpet and flugelhorn. Born in France, but now living in New York, pianist Mathis Picard was featured in 2015's The Young Lions: Julliard Jazz In Harlem, a segment of Something To Live For: The Strayhorn Centennial. Mathis plays piano here, backing Alison. Playing bass on the album is Dan Chmielinski. A young guy, Dan is in his fourth year at Julliard, yet has played all over the world with artists such as Bryan Carter, Etienne Charles and the Joey Alexander Trio. On drums is Italian born Roberto Giaquinto. Aside from playing with Joe Lovano and the Matthew Halpin Quartet, Roberto has been a student at the Berklee School of Music where he became involved with the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. There are vocals on three of the tracks on the album. These vocals were done by Melanie Charles. Not only is she a talented vocalist, Melanie is also a flutist. She has performed with people such as Laura Izibor and Gregory Porter. As for Adison herself, she plays both the alto and baritone saxophones on the album.

Dropbear Boogaloo starts out the album. It is a cool, toe-tapping piece with a lot of sax and bass. Light drums and a piano solo also help round out the song. It is the first of several original compositions on the album.

Slow, easy and romantic is the song Little Tulip. This is definitely a slow dance type of song. There is some great flugelhorn in the song.

If Ever I Would Leave You was sung by Robert Goulet and others. It is a Frederick Loewe penned tune from the musical Camelot. Adison presents her own instrumental arrangement of the song on the album. It was nicely done, with just the right amount of fun and frivolity.

Melanie Charles does a great job on the vocals for the Beyonce song, Blue. Not only did Adison do a nice job on her arrangement of the song, her sax in the background adds something extra.

The Epicurean is a Steve Wilson song from his 1993 album, Step Lively. Adison and the other musicians do a nice turn with their rendition of the song.

Open Your Eyes begins slow and then picks up the pace in places. It has a nice piano solo about halfway through. It is the third song on the album that Adison composed.

Adison turns up the pace a bit with her rendition of the Stevie Wonder song Ribbon In The Sky. There is some really good trumpet and sax in the song. But the drums and piano aren't too bad either.

The next original composition on the album is Mama. It is a beautiful song with soft and gentle vocals.

An easy, sax laden song is Respirare. Adison composed this one too.

The final vocal piece on the album is Do What's Best For You. This is a bit of an R & B flavored song.

Prayer For Yoshi is a short but endearing piece.

The final song on the album is Never Forget To Say Thank You. It is a mellow piece with a lot of piano.

From playing with both pop stars and jazz musicians Adison Evans has gained a lot of experience and expertise. Her time at Julliard also helped sculpt the musical talent that shines through on this album.

Hero is out now and can be found at most music retailers.

To learn more about Hero, and Adison Evans, visit her official web site at www.adisonevans.com

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