MELISSA ALDANA & CRASH TRIO Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio

Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana, who counts sax legends George Coleman and Greg Osby among her mentors, is both the first woman and the first South American to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. So much is expected of the 26-year-old. Aldana's third release, a trio recording with fellow Chilean Pablo Menares on bass and Cuban Francisco Mela on drums, emphatically delivers on expectation. One might expect a Spanish tinge with three Latin Americans, but in fact this is a classic blowing session from the heart of the jazz tradition. The album recalls most obviously Sonny Rollins's celebrated trio recordings of the late 1950s and early 1960s, but with more contemporary echoes of Joe Lovano, Steve Coleman and Mark Turner thrown in. melissaaldana.com