acestero Album Extraordinario . Éxito!

duane_harvey A great example of modern group improv. Aldana and pianist Sam Harris are particularly engaging. Favorite track: Acceptance.

usatran Beautiful chord progressions. Favorite track: Elsewhere.

Fewer Notes Superb and textural post-bop. We always need more women instrumentalists in jazz--especially ones as awesome as Melissa Aldana. It blows that jazz got co-opted by white academia (<sarcasm> thanks, Wynton Marsalis </sarcasm>), but it also has always sucked that even before that it's been a straight boy's club that has been so unwelcoming if not outright hostile to women and queer people (besides not being able to make ends meet, it's why I left jazz and became a librarian).

OceanExplorist Long live Kenny Wheeler. It's so strange to hear his music with no flugel, but it's so wonderful to hear with an entire chorus. This is going to be an album I spin over and over again, just like Music for Large and Small Ensembles. Favorite track: Will You Walk A Little Faster.