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03/13/2025

Melissa Aldana at the Old Church Concert Hall, March 4th, 2025-PSU Jazz Ensemble/George Colligan. - Review

By MICHAEL SHOEHORN CONLEY // A master class and a concert from saxophonist Melissa Aldana. Both inspiring.

Although I'm kind of busy lately, I needed to write about tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana and her recent masterclass and concert in Portland. As I mentioned in my preview for the concert last month, I had heard of Aldana in Downbeat magazine. As a reader who is also a working musician, I find some of the artists profiled in the music press blow smoke about each other and their projects and freely inject extra-musical thematic concepts and esoterica. Of course, most are very good players in spite of such PR gambits.

I had seen Aldana's name and remembered it, but I hadn't investigated her music. Was she another flavor of the month, a Young Lion hype type? Or is she the real deal?

Having looked at her Instagram account, I noticed she's playing with great players in New York all the time and also posts videos of herself playing transcriptions of seminal recorded solos from the history of the music, several of which she demonstrated at the masterclass at PSU Tuesday morning.

Transcription can mean different things to different people. It can be writing down the notes– the melody and rhythms, identifying the harmony, form, and parts of musical arrangements. Another form of transcription is to play the solo as recorded, as closely as possible, on one's instrument.

Aldana told us she's been doing transcriptions her entire life thanks to the tutelage of her father, also a saxophonist, and if I heard correctly, a one-time finalist in the Thelonious Monk competition, which Melissa Aldana herself won in 2013, bringing her to the attention of critics and fans of jazz music.

When she played some transcriptions for the class, we were treated to a jaw-dropping display of skill and scholarship unlike anything I've ever experienced.

With the original recordings playing on a speaker in the classroom, Aldana performed complex jazz solos exactly as recorded, note for note, step for step.

She perfectly blended her sound with the recording without covering up the original solo or being drowned out by the recording. I was completely astonished.

During the Q&A session I asked her a question about her long tone practice. Playing long tones is a fundamental exercise to develop the air support necessary to manipulate one’s sound and maintain tonal integrity when executing phrases. Aldana happily demonstrated how she does her long tones.

Basically, one plays a note and holds it for a reasonable amount of time at different dynamic levels without letting the pitch waver. Nothing wildly difficult, though it was elucidating to hear a master musician playing such a basic exercise– something anyone can do– so it was like– wow– she’s actually human!

Other saxophone masters that I've talked to about long tones told me they don't have time for such things and said they concentrate on ballad melodies instead. But as a saxophone player, it is something I pass along to my own students as an important exercise. Aldana, at the top of the music game by all measures, told the class that she does long tones every day! So, even before the concert, I was inspired to reanimate my practice routine.

I spoke with Aldana a bit after the masterclass and she told me she was playing a vintage balanced action tenor which had belonged to her grandfather.

After such an auspicious experience at the master class, I spent the rest of the day looking forward to the show that night. The concert opened with George Colligan's PSU Jazz Ensemble, which unlike most bands, has an unusual front line of five saxophones and one trombone. In this sax section the soprano saxophone handles parts that might usually be covered by a lead trumpet.

The rhythm section had a bass player, three drummers rotating, and two piano players who each doubled on vibraphone. The band played with precision and snap, and sounded well-rehearsed on mostly Colligan arrangements. Drummer Luis Nava and trombonist Tiko Cortes also contributed one arrangement each.

The arrangements must have been tailored to this particular line-up, and made resourceful use of the talent assembled, including nice alto & soprano sax voicings on “Recado Bossa Nova” and scripted transitions between solos on Monk’s “Epistrophy”.

A standout moment was pianist Davasate Phelps singing Earth Wind & Fire’s “Can’t Hide Love” backed by the band. He also took a vibes solo with only one mallet on a “rhythm changes” tune, which was unusual. This young man has a lot of charisma and stage presence, and the loudest finger snap I've ever heard in my life, with which he confidently counted in the band on his feature numbers.

Another player of note was Andy Rayborn on the baritone saxophone, who in addition to his great ensemble work took compelling improv choruses.
Aldana joined the PSU band for two numbers at the end of their set, reading the tenor book and contributing solos.

The second half of the show featured Melissa Aldana in a quartet setting with Colligan on piano, recent PSU graduate Robert Rodriguez on bass, and teaching assistant Dae Bryant on drums. This was an opportunity to hear the featured soloist stretch out on some standard numbers and some originals.
Aldana did not use a microphone, unlike the bass and drums (and probably the piano), but the Old Church, known for its great acoustics, acted as a resonant chamber for her sound to fill.

As she noted in the master class, the idea of a “big sound” does not necessarily mean a loud sound, but rather a sound which carries at any dynamic level. A big sound uses the space as a resonator for the instrument– the hall is to the saxophone as the bore of the saxophone is to the reed. It amplifies the voice of the instrumentalist, and it's precisely this type of environment where the long tone practice enriches the sonic experience.

At the concert Aldana embodied the tradition of virtuoso tenor playing so thoroughly and masterfully that I count her among the best I have ever heard, and I have heard many of the great ones. Her show started with Frank Loesser’s “If I Were a Bell” from Guys and Dolls. This tune has famously been a swinging showcase for Miles Davis and Diana Washington and many others. Aldana’s horn rang out in big, true, clear notes, ripped up the scale with abandon, and she referenced the “ding, dong” church bell riff of the outro, sublimated in a flurry of trilling arabesques.

The next tune featured Colligan with a piano intro, with another fine solo from Aldana and a nice drum outro by Dae Bryant.

The third number was a bit reminiscent of Coltrane’s “Naima”, introspective and meditative, and offered another invitation to savor the deep colors of this tenorist’s incredible tone.

That was followed by an Aldana original, with a solo sax opening and a leisurely-paced melody contrasted with double-time feel in the rhythm section, the sax later shifting gears to full speed ahead in the second half of the tune.

One highlight of the show was the songbook standard “Old Folks”, which most of us know from Charlie Parker's famous version. It's a number I enjoy playing myself, and I was really thrilled to hear her version of it. After a piano intro on the first two A sections, Aldana came in at the top, very tender and sweet, but dark– with bent, smeared money notes and wonderfully voiced subtone.

The concert closed with the leader’s tune “Ethereal Night”, yet another tour de force. There was a standing ovation from the audience.

I want to thank Melissa Aldana for coming to Portland. She was a big inspiration to me as a saxophonist, reminding me that there is so much more to say and do on the instrument. The following evening’s practice session was liberating– I tried a bunch of stuff I had never thought of, and played my alto with sheer abandon and renewed energy and joy.

Also, I want to note that George Colligan consistently brings great guest artists to PSU and Portland, enriching the student’s learning, and our community. I urge jazz fans of all ages to check the PSU calendar for future concert dates.

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