Biography
Melissa Aldana stands out as a jazz tenor saxophonist whose playing features fluid harmonic lines and a deep commitment to the acoustic post-bop lineage. Pianist Danilo Pérez discovered her as a teenager, leading to her 2010 debut album Free Fall. Greater recognition followed when she captured the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. Active both as a bandleader and collaborator, she has appeared on recordings by Terri Lyne Carrington and Cécile McLorin Salvant while releasing her own projects such as 2014’s Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio and 2016’s Back Home. Grammy nominations arrived for 2019’s Visions and 2022’s 12 Stars, the latter marking her first release on Blue Note. In 2024 she explored her longstanding admiration for Wayne Shorter on Echoes of the Inner Prophet.
Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1988, Aldana grew up as the daughter of established tenor saxophonist and teacher Marcos Aldana. At six she persistently asked for lessons; after quickly mastering the two notes he initially assigned, she received an alto saxophone and began formal training. His main teaching tool involved transcribing solos from cassettes, starting with Charlie Parker. Although she absorbed the approaches of the leading alto players, hearing Sonny Rollins redirected her path, prompting a switch to tenor. Her grandfather Enrique, who had instructed her father, presented her with a Selmer Mark VI, the horn she continues to use.
By sixteen Aldana was already headlining clubs throughout Santiago. Learning that Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez would visit Chile with the Wayne Shorter Quartet, she sought an introduction because his wife had studied with her father. The encounter proved decisive. After listening to her, Pérez invited Aldana to the Panamanian Jazz Festival. Positive reception there led him to bring her to the United States and set up auditions at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory. She earned acceptance to both institutions yet secured a scholarship to Berklee, where instructors included Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, Bill Pierce, and Ralph Peterson. After graduation she moved to New York, received further guidance from George Coleman, and honed her skills through club appearances and sit-ins.
Her debut as a leader, Free Fall, appeared on Osby’s Inner Circle Music imprint in 2010. To promote it she performed in New York venues and at numerous European jazz festivals. The follow-up, Second Cycle, came out in 2012. Later that year she assembled Crash Trio with drummer Francisco Mela and bassist Pablo Menares, the latter an acquaintance from the Chilean scene. The unit quickly developed strong chemistry and became a favored straight-ahead group performing both originals and standards.
At twenty-four, in September 2013, Aldana won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. The panel consisted of Jane Ira Bloom, Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Wayne Shorter, and Bobby Watson. She became the first female instrumentalist to claim the prize. A Concord Jazz recording contract formed part of the award, resulting in the mid-2014 release of Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio. The album drew extensive critical attention and secured invitations to major festivals including Playboy Jazz, Monterey, Umbria, Marciac, Pori, and Molde, along with appearances at the Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Smalls, and the Regatta Bar. She performed alongside Jimmy Heath at the 2014 NEA Jazz Masters Award Ceremony. Wynton Marsalis brought her to Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2015.
Wommusic issued Aldana’s second Crash Trio album, Back Home, in March 2016, with Jochen Rueckert replacing Mela on drums. The 2019 quintet recording Visions reflected inspiration drawn from painter Frida Kahlo and received broad praise, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Improvised Solo on the track “Elsewhere.”
Her Blue Note debut arrived in 2022 with 12 Stars, featuring guitarist Lage Lund, pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer Kush Abadey, and bassist Pablo Menares. The album included the track “Falling,” which brought a second Grammy nomination for Best Improvised Solo. Lund also participated on 2024’s Echoes of the Inner Prophet, co-produced with Aldana, an album that paid tribute to her mentors, among them Wayne Shorter, to whom the title track is dedicated.
Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1988, Aldana grew up as the daughter of established tenor saxophonist and teacher Marcos Aldana. At six she persistently asked for lessons; after quickly mastering the two notes he initially assigned, she received an alto saxophone and began formal training. His main teaching tool involved transcribing solos from cassettes, starting with Charlie Parker. Although she absorbed the approaches of the leading alto players, hearing Sonny Rollins redirected her path, prompting a switch to tenor. Her grandfather Enrique, who had instructed her father, presented her with a Selmer Mark VI, the horn she continues to use.
By sixteen Aldana was already headlining clubs throughout Santiago. Learning that Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez would visit Chile with the Wayne Shorter Quartet, she sought an introduction because his wife had studied with her father. The encounter proved decisive. After listening to her, Pérez invited Aldana to the Panamanian Jazz Festival. Positive reception there led him to bring her to the United States and set up auditions at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory. She earned acceptance to both institutions yet secured a scholarship to Berklee, where instructors included Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, Bill Pierce, and Ralph Peterson. After graduation she moved to New York, received further guidance from George Coleman, and honed her skills through club appearances and sit-ins.
Her debut as a leader, Free Fall, appeared on Osby’s Inner Circle Music imprint in 2010. To promote it she performed in New York venues and at numerous European jazz festivals. The follow-up, Second Cycle, came out in 2012. Later that year she assembled Crash Trio with drummer Francisco Mela and bassist Pablo Menares, the latter an acquaintance from the Chilean scene. The unit quickly developed strong chemistry and became a favored straight-ahead group performing both originals and standards.
At twenty-four, in September 2013, Aldana won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. The panel consisted of Jane Ira Bloom, Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Wayne Shorter, and Bobby Watson. She became the first female instrumentalist to claim the prize. A Concord Jazz recording contract formed part of the award, resulting in the mid-2014 release of Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio. The album drew extensive critical attention and secured invitations to major festivals including Playboy Jazz, Monterey, Umbria, Marciac, Pori, and Molde, along with appearances at the Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Smalls, and the Regatta Bar. She performed alongside Jimmy Heath at the 2014 NEA Jazz Masters Award Ceremony. Wynton Marsalis brought her to Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2015.
Wommusic issued Aldana’s second Crash Trio album, Back Home, in March 2016, with Jochen Rueckert replacing Mela on drums. The 2019 quintet recording Visions reflected inspiration drawn from painter Frida Kahlo and received broad praise, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Improvised Solo on the track “Elsewhere.”
Her Blue Note debut arrived in 2022 with 12 Stars, featuring guitarist Lage Lund, pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer Kush Abadey, and bassist Pablo Menares. The album included the track “Falling,” which brought a second Grammy nomination for Best Improvised Solo. Lund also participated on 2024’s Echoes of the Inner Prophet, co-produced with Aldana, an album that paid tribute to her mentors, among them Wayne Shorter, to whom the title track is dedicated.
Albums
Filin
2026
Echoes Of The Inner Prophet
2024
Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 3
2024
12 Stars
2022
Visions
2019
Sesc Jazz: Melissa Aldana Quartet
2018
Hybrid
2017
Promise
2017
Free Fall
2010
Singles
