Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio

The young Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 2013. Aldana—the first woman in the contest's history to place first in an instrumental category—was awarded a $25,000 scholarship to the Monk Institute and a recording deal with Concord Records. The resulting album, Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio—her third effort as a leader—features an outstanding group that includes Chilean bassist Pablo Menares and Cuban drummer Francisco Mela. At times, Aldana’s lucid melodicism brings to mind Sonny Rollins or Mark Turner. But at 25, she already has her own voice. Things start off with “M&M,” which finds the band nimbly swinging. Sax and bass nicely play off of each other on “Turning,” where Mela’s inventive cymbals color the proceedings. Aldana’s unaccompanied introduction on “You’re Everything to Me,” is riveting, and “Peace, Love and Music” features a striking solo by Mela. “My Joe” has a rhythmic, breezy vibe that showcases a different side of the group. The album closes with the classic Monk ballad “Ask Me Now.”