Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
“I’m looking for musicians who will kick my ass and make me grow,” Melissa Aldana recently said with a laugh.
(Photo: Robert I. Sutherland-Cohen)Aldana feels that Harris—whom she first encountered in New York within days of graduating from Berklee—has helped her artistry evolve.
“I wanted someone to inspire me and push me to different places,” Aldana said. “I haven’t heard somebody else who sounds like Sam. Every time I play, it is an opportunity to grow. If we play something super killing one day, I want him to go the complete opposite direction the next night. He lets me do my thing and is willing to change it up.”
Ross is only 23, but already has made a splash as a pliant firebrand on vibraphone. Before lighting up the marquee with his Blue Note debut, KingMaker, earlier this year, he played vibes alongside Harris for several tracks on Visions. “I’m looking for musicians who will kick my ass and make me grow,” Aldana said with a laugh. “Sometimes Joel makes me feel so old.”
Aldana makes room for everybody on “La Madrina,” part of her suite and the third track on Visions. Harris pushes a steady right hand, his left in tandem with Menares. The bandleader shares a unison melody with Ross at times, his grace notes brightening the musical picture. The tune’s formidable momentum wouldn’t be possible without Crane, who builds patiently alongside Aldana’s intensifying solo.
On “Elsewhere,” the quintet gets a little more jagged. Crane bashes hard on a Latin-flavored beat, making way for Harris to stretch out. Again, Aldana and Ross fly in natural tandem, driving toward the same destination, but in different lanes, always meeting at the light.
There is a lone standard on the album: “Never Let Me Go.” Aldana starts alone, breathy and measured. It’s a delicate, candlelit pace. Aldana floats over the slow-moving ship, the titular phrase returning with regularity. “My constant struggle is, ‘How can I get better and be myself?’ Consistency. Focus. That’s what I’m always trying for. Ballads teach that.”
Visions marks the end of one period and the beginning of another for Aldana, now 30. “All this music is music that we’ve been playing this last year,” she said. “I wanted to develop and grow and then just move forward.”
When she met with DownBeat, Aldana and the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour band were at their 16th venue in 21 nights. The sextet, under the direction of pianist Christian Sands, spans continents—bassist Yasushi Nakamura is a native of Tokyo, and trumpeter Bria Skonberg is from British Columbia—and includes a couple of other Monk competition winners: drummer Jamison Ross (2012) and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant (2010).
“The tour has forced me to focus on practicing,” Aldana explained. “I can squeeze in two or three hours every day. Even though everything is focused towards that hour-and-a-half that we are playing, if I have short-term goals, I can really improve and try different things.”
Aldana steadily has been touring the past few years, and is set to traverse Europe with her Visions band this summer. “I’ve been in different all-star bands,” she said. “It’s just amazing to see how everybody comes from so many different places. The audience is different, too. It’s not necessarily my audience. You can have a different point of view, but how you work it out is where the music starts growing.”
Prior to accepting the invitation to become a part of Monterey band, Aldana joined what would eventually be dubbed Artemis, a collective that includes Salvant, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, clarinetist Anat Cohen, pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Allison Miller. The bandmates bonded during several festival appearances, vowing to record together when schedules permit.
“She’s not only really dedicated to the music, but creates this inspiring environment,” said Salvant, who joined Aldana midway through her interview. “She’s always encouraging us: ‘Let’s try to make something worthwhile. Let’s put ourselves in risky situations and listen to each other.’”
That night on the Disney Concert Hall stage, the band huddled in a tight circle. Following a set by the SFJAZZ Collective—which stretched from one side of the stage to the other—the Monterey band appeared quite intimate. They just as easily could have set up in the freight elevator. But each band member was given ample space to shine, having first played together on the Monterey Fairgrounds rodeo-ready stage the previous summer.
At the festival, Aldana was part of a roundtable discussion on gender equity in jazz. “There has been a greater acknowledgement of women’s contributions to jazz recently,” Aldana told roundtable participants and attendees. “Promoters are trying to incorporate it. I don’t want people to call me because I am a female. As an artist, it is your essence that you are presenting, the mind. If anything, I’d love to inspire younger girls to just be strong about what you have to say.”
In addition to being Aldana’s bandmate, Salvant has collaborated with the saxophonist in a different medium. Aldana commissioned her to create visual artwork for The Jazz Gallery residency, and one of Salvant’s drawings serves as the cover art for Visions. Aptly, the work nods to Kahlo’s famous 1939 painting The Two Fridas. Salvant’s riff on the masterpiece seems to incorporate a cosmic flow of energy amid a yellow sunburst, resulting in a bold gem full of unexplained mystery.
“Melissa pushes us,” Salvant said. “She doesn’t let us get lazy with our shit. I think it ends up bringing out the best in everybody that’s around her. She makes us realize how terrible it is to be complacent.” DB
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