Melissa Aldana - Filin - Vinyl LP

The inspiration for Melissa Aldana’s latest Blue Note release, an immaculate ballad album, is the lovelorn balladry of the Cuban filin music tradition that was popular between the late 1940s and early 1960s. The original style combined steamy Cuban rhythms with emotive vocals and added hints of modern jazz (‘Filin music’ broadly translates as ‘Feeling music; Nat King Cole was an inspirational force).

Saxophonist Aldana, in contrast, pares down her trademark complexities and captures the music’s core with clarity, warmth and an unerring narrative drive. Kush Abadey’s supple brushstrokes deliver a firm but unobtrusive pulse, bass notes hover in acres of space and an in-form Cécile McLorin Salvant adds extra sparkle on two tracks.

But it is Aldana’s tonal control and astute lyricism on tenor sax and Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s sparse piano voicings and complementary ripples that make the album stand out. That empathy is clearly marked in the gorgeous sax and piano duet that opens the set and introduces the quartet playing ‘La Sentencia’ – a knockout bonus track presents the duo playing the number in full.

‘Dime Si Eres Tú’ (‘Tell Me if it’s You’) comes next, marking a slight change of pace and ‘Imágenes’ (‘Images’) features a bass solo and controlled slurs of Aldana sax. McLorin Salvant holds the pyrotechnics in check for lovely readings of ‘No Te Empeñes Más’ (‘Don’t Insist Any More’) and ‘Las Rosas No Hablan (Roses Don’t Speak)’ written by the Brazilian composer Carlota. ‘No Pidas Imposibles’, the album closer, fades gently and leaves the listener wanting more.

“I was just trying to play inside the band, leave space, be as present as I could and let the songs breathe”, says Aldana on the sleeve. And she did, for eight sumptuous tracks.

https://www.jazzwise.com/reviews/melissa-aldana-filin