Mike Greenblatt, Goldmine Magazine
This New York City/Italy uber-talent—fresh off the road with Beyonce and Jay-Z—got her influence tributes out of the way on her 2016 Hero debut. Now her own compositions come to the fore on the brilliantly executed Meridian (AdiTone Music). Adison Evans does, indeed, cover 1953 Miles Davis (“Serpent’s Tooth”, rearranging it masterfully). The only other cover is Henry Mancini’s 1967 “Two For The Road” done with a roots-reverence. Her seven originals, though, are the highlights, buoyed by her own baritone sax, bass clarinet and flute. She leads her octet like a pro but they all don’t play on every track which gives the CD numerous different feels depending upon the configuration. With tenor sax, trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, bass, drums, percussion and clarinet to jam off of, she’s in her element: even on the ultra-sophisticated “Prelude and Fugue in D Minor/The Plunge,” a classical gas if there ever was one.