Born in Santiago, Chile, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana is a third generation jazz musician. Her grandfather Enrique “Kiko” Aldana helmed a big band and her father also played saxophone, playing in bands and orchestras on Chilean television shows. Aldana appeared on some of these TV shows about talented kids, appearing on-screen with kids who could do gymnastics or magic tracks, playing saxophone onstage since the age of six. “Chile is not a country big on jazz, but everyone knows me from these TV shows since I was a kid,” she says. “So it’s kind of like coming to play for my aunts and uncles and families. It was just really beautiful.” 

Equally beautiful is her third album for Blue Note, ‘Filin’, Inspired by classics like John Coltrane’s Ballads, Aldana intended to make an album that also drew upon the rich tradition and craft of the American Songbook. But when she reached out to acclaimed Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba to be part of the recordings, he was enthusiastic, but offered up a suggestion: “I would love to do it. What about this time period of the filin?” 

A vein of Cuban music from the 1940 through the 1960s that melded bolero and canción with the popular American vocal jazz of the era, the Cuban Revolution erased much of this music from public knowledge. “It’s been forgotten, both in Cuba and throughout the world,” Aldana says. “Gonzalo gave me some names and I just went online and found everything that I could find. And the first song that I heard was ‘La Sentencia’ (as sung by Eleonora Barque). I was like, oh my God, I just cried.” She knew it would have to lead off her new album.

Aiding her deep dive into this vein of Cuban history, Aldana turned to the jazz training her father had imparted to the young Aldana from a young age, transcribing the solos of jazz greats like Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Joe Henderson. “I grew up basically with a saxophone next to my bed,” she says. “My dad was really strict. He would wake me up at 6:00am to practice two hours before I went to school. And then I would come back and we’d practice. But there was something about it I always loved. I still practice the same amount. It’s like a meditation, you know, just grounding who I am.”

Now Aldana did her due diligence in transcribing these Cuban artists that she was studying. “Aside from learning the lyrics, I transcribed the singers with the saxophone,” she explains. “It makes a difference because I can understand exactly what the weight of that word means in relationship to the harmony and I found a much deeper connection with this music. You can hear somebody singing with these kind of Nat King Cole harmonies, but it’s in Spanish.” 

‘Filin’ reimagines that smoke-curling, emptied high ball glass, wee hours ballad album, now perceived through a Latin American lens. The pacing and feel is as languid and full of longing as a set of standards, but with a twist. Rather than sound familiar and well-worn, this set of songs beam in from Cuba’s past. Along with Rubalcaba, Aldana receives supple support from bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kush Abadey, all of it expertly captured by Blue Note boss Don Was. “No Te Empeñes Más” also utilises the voice of guest Cécile McLorin Salvant to a smouldering effect. “She’s singing in Spanish like she’s a Latin American,” Aldana beams. “And it’s really, really incredible.” Aldana’s own solo, with its warm glowing vibrato, makes for the perfect pairing. 

In capturing this music for ‘Filin’, Aldana also realised something about herself. “For a long time, I wondered, ‘What is my identity as a Latina in this music?’” she says. “I don’t feel a deep connection with the folkloric music in Chile. But I feel a deep connection with Brazil, Argentina, and now this music from Cuba.” In it, Aldana can hear the jazz music that she grew up studying and loving, as well as the music of her Latin heritage. “They sound like the standards that I love. That’s where my heart is.”

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Andy Beta is the author of the forthcoming book, “Cosmic Music: The Life, Art, and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane”. He is based in New York City.

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_{Header image: Melissa Aldana. Photo: Travis Bailey.}