Zurich Jazz Orchestra featuring Melissa Aldana (ts)

To mark the end of the year, the Zurich Jazz Orchestra presents Grammy-nominated Blue Note artist Melissa Aldana – one of the most innovative and independent jazz musicians on the international scene.

Born in Santiago de Chile, the saxophonist comes from a family of musicians: her father and grandfather were both saxophonists. She began playing the saxophone at the age of six under her father’s guidance. Initially influenced by Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley on the alto saxophone, she switched to the tenor saxophone after hearing Sonny Rollins. As a teenager, she played in jazz clubs in Santiago and was invited by pianist Danilo Pérez to perform at the Panama Jazz Festival in 2005.

She later moved to the US to study at Berklee College of Music. She released her debut album, Free Fall, in 2010. At just 24, she became the first instrumentalist and first South American musician to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. The Washington Post praised her as representing “a new sense of possibility and a new direction in jazz.”

Her album “Visions” (2019) earned her a Grammy nomination in the “Best Improvised Jazz Solo” category. Nate Chinen (NPR Music) called it one of the best jazz albums of the year and praised Aldana’s ability to “combine technical brilliance with a rich emotional palette.”

The concert program she presents with the Zurich Jazz Orchestra at Moods was written entirely by her. Part of it was arranged for the HR Big Band by Jim McNeely, and the other part was written by Ed Partyka especially for the ZJO and its soloists.