Friday October 28th 2016 at the WPAC Theatre
The rising tenor saxophone player, Melissa Aldana from Chile made her debut in Australia with her own trio, Pablo Menares (Bass) and Colin Stranahan (Drums). Born in 1988, she started with the saxophone at a young age of 7 tutored by her father Marco Aldana, whose father was another famed saxophonist Enrique Aldana. Its all in the genes so to say! In 2007 she moved to Boston and then New York, mentored by Greg Osby and George Coleman.
In 2013 she became the first female instrumentalist and the first South American ever to win the Thelonious Monk Competition. She is also a recipient of the Martin E. Segal Award from Jazz at Lincoln Center and a double recipient of the Altazor Award, Chile’s highly prestigious national arts prize. (http://www.melissaaldana.com/bio/)
Just a brief intro to the photos I took of her outstanding performance at the Wangaratta Jazz and Blues fest 2016, Australia.
Patrons – totally engrossed in her music
