Melissa Aldana brings her colorful and beautiful music to Orlando with Judson's Live run

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photo by Eduardo Pavez Goye/courtesy Dr. Phillips Center

Melissa Aldana

You don't have to go far in search of new music. It's being created 24/7, and it's clicks away at a moment's notice, with exciting sound being created at a breathless rate.

This is particularly evident in today's school of jazz artists, a school that includes Melissa Aldana as a star student. Lucky for us, now Aldana brings her sound to Judson's Live at the Dr. Phillips Center.

For the past few years, great fanfare has been made over her as a rising force, with Blue Note Records signing her and a Grammy nod to go with it. You can almost hear the history in her work just by reading the title of her latest recording, Echoes of the Inner Prophet (for Wayne Shorter). Shorter, the dearly departed jazz maestro, and his outsized influence run deep throughout the album.

Aldana, who knew Shorter, explained that "he has been a source of inspiration to me for years, especially these last few years. I feel it takes a certain kind of maturity to understand the full length of his music, and the way that he plays has strongly influenced me on how I want to express my music."

Like the album's title and its inspiration, Aldana's art is deeply moving, colorful and beautiful.

7 & 9:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, April 25-27, Judson's Live.