About

The Brooklyn-based tenor player from Santiago, Chile has garnered international recognition for her visionary work as a band leader, as well as her deeply meditative interpretation of language and vocabulary.  - Blue Note

Many musicians have chosen their Blue Note moment to reveal themselves as the artist they are or intend to be. So it is not surprising that a young, gifted artist such as Grammy nominee Melissa Aldana, riding a sure, ascendant arc both creatively and professionally, goes big on her Blue Note debut.

From the start, 12 Stars is the exact antithesis of the parlance of isolation. It is a confab of equals. Though in her notes the saxophonist remarks that "Falling" is an active reflection of her life going to pieces, as the virus spread and she and her husband separated, the mood of the piece and its fervent interpretation by producer, co-writer & guitarist Lage Lund, ever enthused pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer Kush Abadey—whose Jack DeJohnette reflexive impressionism gives 12 Stars its enduring, quiet power —and longtime consigliere bassist Pablo Menares prove the piece to be just the opposite. From Menares' firm assertions that set the piece into motion, "Falling" is a conference of integrity over adversity and serves as a most fitting prelude to all that follows.

Aldana is an emotionally arresting player who balances vulnerability and victory; her horn at once looses whispery confessions and purposeful statements of strength and resolve. An open conversation where all have equal pull and sway, "The Bluest Eye" (named after a novel by Toni Morrison) exhibits an understated undertow which evolves more by feel than by any given chart, holding the quintet steady for them each to tell their story (as well as that of Morrison's antagonist) of witnessing, with open heart and mind, the interior light which overcome all darkness. "Emilia" is a dream story told by Aldana through diaphanous clouds of Lund's echoey guitar clusters and Fortner's clouds of Rhodes; a lullaby for a dream child.

Much like her bold, declarative "Frida" from Artemis (Blue Note, 2020), "Intuition" finds Aldana centerstage, finding all she needs within herself and lighting the fuse on a series of wide ranging, confident lyrical statements. Thoughtful of her conversant circle of peers, the forum is open, making jaunty, full-bodied tracks like "The Fool" and "Los Ojos de Chile" a friendly, familial parlay. Closing on the gravity-defying title composition, Fortner's emphatic touch on the Rhodes provides Aldana's sincere, reflective tone a nest from which to fly into new regions she and we will experience as her vision comes into fuller focus. Let the top discs of 2022 begin here. - All About Jazz

Melissa Aldana's nuanced and superbly executed 2022 album 12 Stars feels like a new beginning for the tenor saxophonist. Though not her first album, 12 Stars is the Chilean-born improviser's debut for the storied Blue Note label. The 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition winner, Aldana has spent much of the last five years earning accolades, including picking up her first Grammy nomination for her 2019 album Visions. Named after the 12 stars pictured on the crown of the tarot card figure The Empress, 12 Stars builds upon that success, showcasing Aldana's growing maturity as both a soloist and bandleader.

Helping Aldana achieve this balance is Norwegian guitarist Lage Lund, who produced the album and collaborated with her on the songs and arrangements. Joining them is pianist Sullivan Fortner (who has distinguished himself as a member of vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant's Grammy-winning albums), drummer Kush Abadey, and longtime Aldana bandmate bassist Pablo Menares. Aldana and Lund are a magical team, often playing melodies in tandem.

On the opening "Falling," Lund bathes Aldana in sparkling, otherworldly drones, her warm shooting-star sax refracting off the hull of his alien spaceship guitar. More evocative feelings arise throughout 12 Stars, as on "Emilia," in which Aldana dreams of her future daughter against Fortner's warm Rhodes keyboard bed. Equally hypnotic is "The Bluest Eye," a rippling, modal-sounding piece inspired by the Toni Morrison novel.

There's a warm, cocoon-like quality to Aldana's compositions as she envelops herself and her audience in shimmering tonal cascades. She's also mutable, with a tone that's water pure one minute before rising to a high-pitched squelch the next, à la Wayne Shorter, as on the dreamy, tango-inflected "Intuition." Even on the vibrantly propulsive "Los Ojos de Chile," an anthem inspired by the 2019 political turmoil and protests in Chile, Aldana plays with an easy warmth that belies just how athletic and harmonically adept her improvisational skills are. With 12 Stars, Aldana puts all of her colorful sonic and emotional textures on display. - Matt Collar // AllMusic