Melissa Aldana (born 3 December 1988) is a Chilean tenor saxophone player, who performs both as a soloist and with her band Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio.Melissa Aldana: cómo se ganó un lugar en Nueva York, su amor por Frida Kahlo y sus presentaciones en Buenos Aires
Life and career Early life and training 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 performed in Santiago jazz clubs while 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 auditions at music schools in the United States. As a result of these introductions, she attended the 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. She graduated from Berklee in 2009, relocating to New York City to study under George Coleman.
Career
Aldana recorded her first album, Free Fall, released on Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music imprint, in 2010. Her live performances 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, the first South American, and the youngest person to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, in which her father had been a semi-finalist in 1991. The competition's 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".
In addition, Aldana has been awarded the Altazor National Arts Award of Chile, and the Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. She has played concerts alongside artists such as Peter Bernstein, Kevin Hays, Christian McBride and Jeff "Tain" Watts, and many festivals including the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Twin Cities Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz, Vienna Jazz Festival, and Providencia Jazz Festival in Chile. She also performed with Jimmy Heath at the 2014 NEA Jazz Masters Award Ceremony, and was invited to Jazz at Lincoln Center by Wynton Marsalis.
Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio
In 2012, Aldana formed a group, Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio, with Cuban drummer Francisco Mela and Chilean bassist Pablo Menares, a friend from the jazz scene in Santiago several years prior. In July 2014, this group released their self-titled debut album on Concord Jazz, a recording deal that had formed part of Aldana's prize for winning the Thelonious Monk Award. The group released their second album in March 2016 titled Back Home, on Wommusic, with drummer Mela replaced by Jochen Rueckert.
Melissa Aldana Quartet Formed in 2017, the Melissa Aldana Quartet includes Aldana on tenor saxophone, Sam Harris on piano (or Lage Lund on guitar), Pablo Menares on bass, and Kush Abadey on drums.
Personal life Aldana lives in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
Awards and honors 2013: First female instrumentalist to take first prize in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Competition for Saxophonists 2016: DownBeat magazine: "25 for the Future" 2023: Grammy nomination for "Best Improvised Jazz Solo" on "Falling" 2022: DownBeat magazine: Rising Star Artist of the Year Altazor National Arts Award of Chile Martin E. Segal Award, Lincoln Center
Discography As leader Title As Release date Label Free Fall Melissa Aldana 2010 Inner Circle Music Second Cycle Melissa Aldana 2012 Inner Circle Music Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio July 2014 Concord Jazz Back Home Melissa Aldana March 2016 WommusicVisions Melissa Aldana May 2019 Motéma Music12 Stars Melissa Aldana March 2022 Blue NoteEchoes of the Inner Prophet Melissa Aldana 2024 Blue NoteFilin Melissa Aldana 2026 Blue Note
As sideman/member Joshua Redman, Words Fall Short (Blue Note, 2025) – on track 2, "So It Goes" Carlos Henriquez, Dizzy Con Clave (RodBros, 2018)
References