Melissa Aldana

On her first jazz quartet "Visions", award-winning saxophonist Melissa Aldana connects her work to the legacy of Latina artists who have come before her, creating a pathway for her own expression. Inspired by the life and works of Frida Kahlo, Aldana creates a parallel between her experiences as a female saxophone player in a male-dominated community, and Kahlo’s experiences as a female visual artist working to assert herself in a landscape dominated by men. On her first jazz quartet recording, Aldana adds a new dimension to her sound, resulting in a transformative movement of expression and self-identity.

Aldana was born in Santiago, Chile. She began playing the saxophone when she was six, under the influence and tuition of her father Marcos Aldana, also a professional saxophonist. Aldana began with alto, influenced by artists such as Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, and Michael Brecker. However, upon first hearing the music of Sonny Rollins, she switched to tenor; the first tenor saxophone she used was a Selmer Mark VI that had belonged to her grandfather.

She started performing in Santiago jazz clubs in her early teens. In 2005, after meeting him while he was on tour in Chile, she was invited by pianist Danilo Pérez to play at the Panama Jazz Festival, as well as a number of auditions at music schools in the USA. As a result of these introductions, she went on to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, where her tutors included Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Frank Tiberi, Greg Osby, Hal Crook, Bill Pierce, and Ralph Peterson

Aldana graduated from Berklee in 2009, relocating to New York City to study under George Coleman. She recorded her first album, Free Fall, released on Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music imprint in 2010. Her live shows in this period included performances at the Blue Note Jazz Club and the Monterey Jazz Festival, and her second album, Second Cycle, was released in 2012. In 2013, aged 24, she was the first female musician and the first South American musician to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, in which her father had been a semi-finalist in 1991. The prize was a $25,000 scholarship, and a recording contract with Concord Jazz. Reporting her win, the Washington Post described Aldana as representing "a new sense of possibility and direction in jazz".

Two Views Of A Masterpiece

by John Chacona
September 15, 2026

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 ...

Play This!

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 ...

Performance / Tour

Smoke Jazz Club Announces October 2025 Lineup Including A Two-week Thelonious Monk Festival With Orrin Evans, Terri Lyne Carrington, Melissa Aldana, Joe Lovano, And More

Source: AMT Public Relations
September 5, 2025

SMOKE Jazz Club today announced its concert schedule for October 2025. The month’s capstone is a two-week Thelonious Monk Festival (Oct 8-19) celebrating the unparalleled genius of the legendary composer/pianist Thelonious Monk (born 10.10.17) with performances by some of today’s top artists including Melissa Aldana, winner of the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. Other highlights this month include the return of club audience favorites Nicholas Payton, Steve Davis, and one of the greatest organ trios Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart. For the ...
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Performance / Tour

World-Renowned Smoke Jazz Club Announces October Line-up Including The Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart Trio, Pianist Jacky Terrasson, Trombonist Steve Davis, Saxophonist Melissa Aldana, And More

Source: AMT Public Relations
August 30, 2023

Rated the #1 Jazz Club in New York City (Secret NYC), Smoke Jazz Club welcomes a few of today’s leading Trios to the stage in October. For the first time in 30 years, the Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart Trio returns to SMOKE for a highly-anticipated, long overdue, four-night run (Oct 12-15). Pianist Jacky Terrasson makes a rare New York City appearance with his exciting trio with bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Alvester Garnett (Oct 19-22). The month ends with the master trombonist Steve ...
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