In June of 2006, pop superstar Beyonce issued a call for musicians to join her all-female band for an upcoming tour. About a thousand attended the open auditions, including alto saxophonist Tia Fuller, who was raised in Aurora and graduated from Gateway High School in 1994.

And when Beyonce hits the Pepsi Center on Wednesday, Fuller will be there as well.

"At the time of the auditions in New York," Fuller said in a phone call from a tour stop in Montreal, "I was preoccupied with recording my new CD on the Mack Avenue label."

The drummer in Fuller's all-female jazz quartet, Kim Thompson, however, was interested in the auditions, so Fuller went along for support. "I just went in to do it and really thought they would go for someone with a more contemporary sound, but Beyonce liked my jazz stuff."

After a week of rehearsal, the 10-piece band (including Fuller, Thompson, a jazz trumpeter out of Philadelphia, and Colorado guitarist BiBi McGill) left for the BET Awards, followed by a promotion tour of television shows that carried into 2007. From April to June, Fuller was in Europe with Beyonce; now the tour is covering America.

As a jazz player, Fuller notes: "Performing onstage before 20,000 people a night is not something I thought I would ever be doing. Beyonce is an amazing artist and I have learned a lot from this experience.

"In the R&B world, people come to a concert expecting consistency in all aspects of the performance. While I don't want to play the same thing every night with my own band, there are some things I'm learning that can be applied to jazz to give the music greater appeal, like having a clear-cut vision of where you want to go."

Though the busy tour schedule with Beyonce hasn't left the saxophonist much time to promote her Healing Space CD, Fuller was able to play Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex in April. More recently, she performed at Sweet Rhythm in New York and invited dancers from the tour who were in the audience onstage, turning the night into a real party.

After high school, Fuller went to Spelman College in Atlanta. She returned to Colorado in 1998 to enroll in a master's program at the University of Colorado. While there, she performed with Sisters in Jazz, adding to her exposure and her teaching experience. When she finished her academic work, Fuller settled in New Jersey just across the water from the World Trade Center. That was two days before Sept. 11.

As the daughter of bassist Fred Fuller and his singer/wife Elthopia (as well as the sister of pianist Shamie Fuller-Royston and drummer Ashton Fuller), the saxophonist (Web site: tiafuller.com) has deep jazz roots. At 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Pepsi Center she gets to show them off in quite a different context ($35.75-$75.75, 303-830-8497).

THERE'S MORE: Wednesday also offers arranger/composer Chie Imaizumi's large ensemble at El Chapultepec Too, 3930 W. 38th Ave., starting at 8 p.m. (303-480-9406).

On Thursday rising flute star Holly Hoffman hits Mount Vernon Country Club in Golden. Hoffman's guest is the full-bodied tenor saxophonist Houston Person. Her husband, pianist Mike Wofford (who worked with drummer Shelly Manne and Ella Fitzgerald) is also part of the band.

Recently, Capri Records released the second volume of Hoffman and Wofford together at Athenaeum Music and Arts Library in California; an earlier Capri CD featured Hoffman as part of the group Flutology.

The music starts at 8 p.m. after a buffet dinner beginning at 6 p.m. ($42.95 for the dinner and show, $16 for music alone, 303-526-0616). The country club is west of Denver on I-70 just off exit 254.

While Hoffman is playing Mount Vernon on Thursday, singer Erin Bode takes the stage at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, 7 and 9 p.m. This is Bode's second appearance at the club in the wake of her MaxJazz CD Over and Over. Her first stop proved a pleasant experience ($12, 303-839-5100). THE WEEKEND: Ron Miles brings his Blossom band to Dazzle tonight and Saturday. The cornet player recently issued a double CD, Stone/ Blossom, on Sterling Circle Records.

Miles' group on the disc features Rudy Royston on drums, Eric Moon on piano and Greg Garrison on bass, along with two guitarists. That band, minus the guitarists, performs at 7 and 9 p.m. both evenings. The music on the disc is enormously attractive, displaying substance and the power of quiet beauty.

Also this weekend, hit the annual Genuine Jazz event in Breckenridge. Tonight and Saturday there are ticketed shows in the Ten-Mile Room starting at 8:30 p.m. , featuring guitarist Jay Soto, pianist Bobby Lyle and saxophonists Eric Darius, Jackien Joyner and Kim Waters. Soto, Waters and Joyner are on stage tonight; Lyle (with Joyner) and Darius perform Saturday.

In addition to the evening shows, there is free music Saturday and Sunday at the Village at Breckenridge on Maggie Pond and Main Street Station plaza. The outdoor sounds run 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Before Sunday's show, there is a 10:45 a.m. gospel music breakfast. A weekend pass is $79 and tickets are available for individual paid events (866-464-2626 or at King Soopers).

Saturday also brings Dr. John to Cervantes, 2637 Welton St. Doors open 8 p.m. ($25/$30, 303-297-1772). BLUE NOTE: A memorial service, with music, for drummer Nat Yarbrough is at 12:30 p.m. today at New Hope Baptist Church, 3701 Colorado Blvd. Yarbrough, a longtime musical treasure in Denver, died Aug. 9.

Normanprovizer@aol.com