AllMusic

Melissa Aldana / Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio

Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio

June 24, 2014

Straight-Ahead Jazz

The third album from the Chilean saxophonist--her first with Crash Trio--is an exercise in hard post-bop wed to finger-popping grooves, Latin jazz, folk sounds, syncopated Caribbean rhythms and samba. Whether ballad, blues, or swinging hard bop, this trio's interplay is canny, soulful and deep.

- Thom Jurek

Ralph Alessi

Imaginary Friends

February 1, 2019

Modern Creative

An inventive improvisor in the Kenny Wheeler-mold, Alessi makes modern creative jazz that is aware of tradition, but rarely evinces it. He's well-matched by his partner. The son of John and Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane has spent much of his career bucking obvious comparisons to his iconic father, while conversely living up to his family lineage with his own deeply cerebral style of post-bop. This album follows up Alessi's two previous ECM outings, 2013's Baida and 2016's Quiver, and is the first to feature This Against That since 2011's Wiry Strong.

- Matt Collar