Jazz Articles about Melissa Aldana

About Melissa Aldana

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As a jazz composer is it better to be a hedgehog or a fox, to write music that is so irreducibly singular that there is only one way to perform it or do be so embracingly universal that one's genius spreads like pollinator bees? Arguably Wayne Shorter, fairly unanimously embraced as the greatest jazz composer of the immediate past, has been seen as a hedgehog, the composer of brilliantly idiosyncratic music that has failed to escape the shadow of his ...

Album Review

Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana: Beneath Lifted Skies

Read "Beneath Lifted Skies" reviewed by Andrew Schinder

by Andrew Schinder
August 22, 2026

Bassist Linda May Han Oh and tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, two modern jazz powerhouses, have recorded one of 2026's most delightful jazz surprises, the duet album Beneath Lifted Skies (Biophilia Records, 2026). Oh and Aldana are two of the music's strongest contemporary players, potent in both overall skill as well as sound, and that intensity serves them well on the album. The atmosphere is robust without the forcefulness overwhelming the form. The album consists mostly of standards that span ...

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Melissa Aldana's Sensory Journey Transports Listeners… Elsewhere

by Keith Flint
July 25, 2026

There is little wonder why Melissa Aldana was nominated in 2019's 61st Annual Grammy Awards for her extraordinary solo on “Elsewhere." The Chilean saxophonist and composer creates a gallery of sound on this piece from her album Visions, inspired by the life and work of the artist Frida Kahlo. Bassist Pablo Menares leads listeners into the track with a steady, trance-inducing, ostinato accompanied by Tommy Crane's metrical rim clicks and light cymbal rhythms, from which Aldana's initial spare tenor sax ...

Live Review

Melissa Aldana Quartet at Wave Hill

by Paul Reynolds
July 22, 2026

Melissa Aldana Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center Sunset Wednesday New York NY July 15, 2026 Wildfire smoke from Canada choked New York City last Wednesday night, including at Wave Hill, the garden and cultural center located north of Manhattan, which customarily offers outdoor shows with spectacular views of the Hudson River and New Jersey Palisades. Given the grimy air, the venue had little choice but to move its scheduled “Sunset Wednesday" ...

Live Review

Melissa Aldana Quartet At The Philharmonie

by Matty Bannond
March 31, 2026

Melissa Aldana, Pablo Held, Pablo Menares, Kush Abadey The Philharmonie Cologne, Germany March 21, 2026 In northwest Germany, the natural order slides out of whack in early Spring. Lazer-blue skies blacken in the flicker of an eyelid. Afternoon strolling requires sunglasses and waterproof footwear. Mosquito bites burn as you scratch frost off the car windscreen. It is a fitful, jumbled-up and unpredictable time. And it is possibly the optimal moment for locals to experience the ...

Radio & Podcasts

Charlie Apicella, Jazz Sabbath, Mark Christian Miller, Melissa Aldana and more

by Benjamin Boddie
February 18, 2026

Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Baltimore Jazz Collective, Charlie Apicella, Jazz Sabbath, Mark Christian Miller, Melissa Aldana, James Fernando, Julian Lage, Betty Bryant, Gregory Groover Jr., NOLA Resistance Quintet, Joel Ross, Dave Wilson Quartet, Joe Magnarelli, Roderick Harper, Sean Mason, Rick Roe, Vancouver Jazz Orchestra, Chris Rottmayer, Alexa Tarantino, Stephen Philip Harvey, Robert Glasper, Ron Rieder, Mattias Svensson, Alex Robinson, Lisa Hilton, Michael Dease, Noah Preminger, Kelsey Mines, Dave Stryker, and more.Playlist Baltimore Jazz Collective “Fleeting Stillness" ...

Radio & Podcasts

Echoes & Inspirations: Melissa Aldana’s Jazz Journey

by Steven Roby
January 6, 2026

In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby sits down with Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana. As the first female instrumentalist and first South American to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, Melissa shares her remarkable journey from Santiago, Chile, to the global jazz stage.Playlist Melissa Aldana “Unconscious Whispers" from Echoes of the Inner Prophet (Blue Note Records) Melissa Aldana “Echoes of the Inner Prophet" from Echoes of the Inner Prophet (Blue Note ...