Great Players Melissa Aldana

[Ville K.]

I ordered some Gonzales reeds and found an advertisement inside the reed box. It presented a saxophonist from Chile that I hadn't heard before: Melissa Aldana. It raised my curiosity and I did a search on the net and found her own website with sound clips. Have a look:

Melissa Aldana

Melissa Aldana Trio: ”Flip Flop”

She's a beauty and blows beautifully too! Knowing that Aldana is just 22 years old and already so accomplished one can wait for good things from her career!

I came to think about it and then realised that I don't know that many professional female saxophonists apart from Candy Dulfer. Well, thanks to Cafe I became aware of Kaori Kobayashi. But unlike Dulfer and Kobayashi, Aldana plays my favorite sax from the saxophone family ;}

 

[dooce]

Nice find. She's 22 - how old is that keys player? 15?

 

[GsySaxMan]

Next time I go to Chile (Santiago, and the Andes for Skiing, a great combination) I must try and catch her set, great player in the making....

Thanks for posting VK.

 

[AlanU]

Very good.
It seems she's now based in NY, and has an album out.
One to watch, I think.

 

[koumou]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AueMO4N2BLA

Her playing and music speak for themselves.

 

[trimmy]

Been listening to this young lady a lot recently, her tone is fabulous.
She’s obviously improved massively since the OP posted back in 2011, i think she’ll go far 😉

View: https://youtu.be/4lJTfteWl2I

 

[spike]

The links in the original post are no longer valid.
Her website is now here:
Melissa Aldana

 

[trimmy]

This needs to be merged @Jeanette
We have two Melissa Aldana’s which wouldn’t be a bad thing !

Melissa Aldana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AueMO4N2BLA Her playing and music speak for themselves.

cafesaxophone.com

 

[Jeanette]

This needs to be merged @Jeanette
We have two Melissa Aldana’s which wouldn’t be a bad thing !

Melissa Aldana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AueMO4N2BLA Her playing and music speak for themselves.

cafesaxophone.com

Done

Jx

 

[scotsman]

She won the Thelonius Monk Jazz award a few years ago..

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbyQ_xOBLWU

 

[Greg Strange]

According to a Downbeat interview / article a few years ago she plays on a Mark VI her grandfather use to own / play...

Greg S.

 

[scotsman]

🙂🙂 Been listening to her for a while now and came across the Quartet in cologne.. Interesting finger positions for altissimo..

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkG4jGrnr5Y

 

[skeller047]

If you have the chance, go hear her live. In the last year I have seen her 3 times and it was just stunning. Next time I happen to be near where she is playing I will be there.

Musicians often talk about being a channel for the music. Muisc flows through Melissa Aldana like water flows over Niagara Falls.

 

[Grumps]

She was the guest jazz artist at a Symposium a few years ago. Got to know her during her masterclass and hear her play with the Navy jazz band. Awesome experience. And why I plug the Symposium each and every year.

 

[wakyct]

I heard Aldana last night with Joe Lovano and company. To be honest I had listened to her last record and I thought it was OK, nothing jumped out at me, but live she is amazing. Definitely going to go back to her recordings.

 

[mrblackbat]

I do find some of her records a bit ‘angular’, I think especially when the tunes are originals. But she’s undoubtedly a fantastic player and her live renditions of standards and collabs are fantastic

 

[skeller047]

When I visited NYC last year, I took my friend and hostess, a jazz fan, to see her. She became an instant fan, at her suggestion we went back for a second night, and she has since been to see her 4 other times. Live, Ms. Aldana is a wonder.

 

[wakyct]

I listened to her new ballads album this morning, from Everything Jazz:

“I grew up basically with a saxophone next to my bed,” she says. “My dad was really strict. He would wake me up at 6:00am to practice two hours before I went to school. And then I would come back and we’d practice. But there was something about it I always loved. I still practice the same amount. It’s like a meditation, you know, just grounding who I am.”