January 30, 2026
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana has shared her stunning rendition of “Little Church,” a piece by Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal that first appeared on the 1971 Miles Davis electric album Live-Evil. It’s the second single to be revealed from Aldana’s forthcoming ballads album Filin featuring pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Kush Abadey. Produced by Don Was, the album also features a special guest appearance by vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant on two tracks.
In Aldana’s hands, “Little Church” is pure poignant lyricism, devoid of the eerie surreality that defines the Miles version. “This is my favorite track on the album,” says Aldana, “and a song I’ve been playing for a little while with my own band. I just had to record it. I was really thinking hard about how to approach it, and the first person who came to mind was Wayne Shorter.”
For as long as she’s been a recording artist, the Chilean-born saxophonist has wanted to make a ballads record. With archetypes like John Coltrane’s classic 1963 LP Ballads as her North Star, Aldana saw a slow-tempo project as a way to advance her lifelong quest for sound.
“I transcribe Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, and Don Byas, among many others. For them the sound itself is a tool to express an emotion,” she explains. “Every single note is a whole world. So there is a technical side to playing, but then there is this mystical side of sound that… I still don’t know exactly what it is.” A ballads record, she believed, would help her burrow deeper into the essence of her sound.
The end product is both enthralling and unlike anything else in Aldana’s catalog. Throughout these eight tracks, six of which are drawn from Cuba’s Filin music tradition, the ensemble enacts a stirring emotional minimalism that glows with a quiet intensity and places paramount importance on Aldana’s radiant delivery of the melody. This music moves slowly, simmering forward with great deliberation and restraint, which is all the more impressive once you consider the runaway virtuosity these players are capable of.
Perhaps most remarkable, however, is the fact that this incredibly patient program is never less than compelling; like great cinema, it holds its audience rapt without bells and whistles. When Aldana solos, she plays in a way that contrasts the longform harmonic probings she’s best known for. Her improvising here is mellifluous and moves like gossamer, with a newfound focus on accenting the core tunefulness. “I wasn’t trying to play the perfect jazz solo,” she says. “I was just trying to play inside the band — to leave space and be as present as I could, let the songs breathe. I’m older too, so I might be feeling less like I have something to prove. I also just felt in my gut that I wanted to do a ballads record,” she adds, “that I have something to say.”
