Melissa Aldana
12 Stars
(Blue Note) bluenote.com
Some tenor saxophonists have a drive that pushes them to higher plains, never allowing them to stop and revel in the latest accomplishments. John Coltrane practiced obsessively, shaking the foundation as he went and looking ahead to create another seismic wave. Sonny Rollins also practiced a great deal and told this writer in 2000 that he was "still some distance from realizing my musical ideal."
Melissa Aldana might not be in the leagues of those giants yet, but a similar drive seems to have taken hold of her. The 33-year old saxophonist is profiled in the April 2022 issue of downbeat. Early in the story she laments the way she feels after a performance, going from a beautiful experience of playing to a feeling of emptiness once the horn has been packed up. Presumably, Aldana would rather keep going, playing and exploring at length. One can imagine Coltrane might have felt the same way too.
12 Stars, her debut for Blue Note and sixth album as a leader, came into being during the pandemic, a time when Aldana, like many people, felt paralyzed with fear. She explains in the liner notes that, during this time, she began studying tarot and how it related to numerology. The title refers to what appears in the crown worn by The Empress, who symbolizes concepts of creation, motherhood, nature and the universe. While it's not a concept album per se, these theme shape mood of the music.
For the album, guitarist Lage Lund came on as producer, band member and co-writer on all the tracks, save an interlude. Pablo Menares, who has played with Aldana since their days in Chile, returns on bass. Sullivan Fortner (acoustic piano and Rhodes) and Kush Abadey (drums) complete the lineup.
As much as the album seems fueled by exploration and search, it doesn't always have an underlying feeling of tension and release to it. Lund smooths out some of the edges, production-wise. In particular Abadey's performance seems to be softened a bit, even when it sounds like he's trying to push the group.
But this is not to say that the album is too subdued. It just requires a deeper listen to see where Aldana is going. Her solo in "Intuition" includes a section where she runs up and down the middle register of her horn, figuring out exactly where she wants to land. She shows a similar scrutiny in "Falling," running through a series of low notes to examine which one will take her forward. It leads to an upper register cry. Though throughout the album, Aldana uses the upper notes in unique ways, by both shaping the direction of a melody and as a way to cap off a solo without merely using it as an exclamation point.
12 Stars includes a lot of hidden qualities that take some time to reveal themselves. "Los Ojos de Chile," written as a tribute to demonstrators in Aldana's home country who were shot in the face with rubber bullets at protests, doesn't rest easily on a steady time signature. It has an extended, rather complex line and some sonic tricks from Lund that sneak up during solos. Similar sounds appear in "Falling," while "The Bluest Eye" uses some wild backwards guitar noise in its coda. The gentle "Emilia," inspired by a dream about a daughter that Aldana does not have (at least not yet), climaxes with a recording of Lund's daughter singing, adding to the dreamy quality of an already alluring piece. Here, Fortner switches to Rhodes, gently adding color to the soundscape, though he could have been brought up in the mix a bit.
Melissa Aldana continues to grow with each album she makes and 12 Stars is no exception. What will be interesting to see is how this music sounds in the live setting. (A date to appear at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival is already on her website.) It feels very much like a studio project that could generate sparks onstage. Being on Blue Note could also offer her to flexibility to stretch out and take more risks on future projects. Hopefully in light of all that, she's feeling less empty after a performance these days.
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