Melissa Aldana
The young saxophonist Melissa Aldana is the new big talent on the international jazz scene. On Thursday 7 July, she takes the intimate stage at Energimølla at the Kongsberg jazz festival!
Born and raised in Chile, she brought her native musical heritage with her when she moved to New York. There she was quickly noticed, and in 2013 she won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, with musicians such as Wayne Shorter and Branford Marsalis on the jury.
Melissa Aldana started with alto sax, but after hearing the record Sonny Rollins Plus 4, she realized that it was the tenor sax that was her instrument. Her interest in Sonny Rollins says a lot about where she is in the musical landscape, although she is constantly developing, and today it is more natural to compare her with Chris Potter. So she places herself in a proud tradition, but she does not copy the role models; she has her own voice. This voice has reached many. Her latest album, visions, stayed in the magazine Jazzwise awarded with four stars ("Excellent").
She comes to Kongsberg with her quartet. The Norwegian guitarist Lage Lund plays there - who also played a brilliant concert at last year's jazz festival.
Melissa Aldana – saxophone
Lage Lund - guitar
Pablo Menares – bass
Kush Abadey – drums
