Melissa Aldana

Did you know Melissa Aldana started playing saxophone when she was only six? Today, she plays both as a soloist and in her band Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio. You can catch her on tour during MJF On Tour - check dates and locations here: https://t.co/ryvr7UVMp9 pic.twitter.com/7M6hi9ki2N

— Monterey Jazz (@MontereyJazz) March 10, 2019

Melissa Aldana wins 2013 Monk jazz contest

Paul Morigi -  Melissa Aldana performs at the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington.

By Matt Schudel, Published: September 17

After 26 years, the annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition has become recognized as the world’s most prestigious talent contest for budding jazz musicians. Many young stars have been discovered, but until Monday, no woman had won an instrumental competition.

Among the 13 semifinalists in this year’s contest, which featured the saxophone, there was only one woman, Melissa Aldana, a 24-year-old tenor saxophonist from Santiago, Chile. History was made when she took the top prize at the final competition Monday night at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, beating out tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott and alto player Godwin Louis to claim a $25,000 scholarship, a recording contract with the Concord Music Group and a headline appearance next year at the Kennedy Center.


“I’m in shock,” she said in a brief backstage interview after the competition. “I’m really surprised and honored to be here.”

Several women have won the Monk competition as singers, but Aldana, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, is the first to win on an instrument. She is also the first winner from South America and is believed to be the first second-generation competitor. Her father, Marcos Aldana, participated in the 1991 saxophone competition, which launched the career of Joshua Redman.

In her performance, Aldana played the standard “I Thought About You” with a slightly breathy tone, bouncing along in a classic swing rhythm while dashing off fast, subtle arpeggios that fell into perfect place. Her second number, an original called “Free Fall,” had bold chord intervals, not unlike a Wayne Shorter tune from the 1960s.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/melissa-aldana-wins-2013-monk-competition/2013/09/17/bb79532a-1fb7-11e3-94a2-6c66b668ea55_story.html?wprss=rss_entertainment