Sep 30, 2026 · 34 min
Aldana and Rubalcaba trace jazz through Latin America
Alt.Latino: Melissa Aldana and Gonzalo Rubalcaba talk jazz
The conversation shows how family, regional musical traditions, and the search for an individual voice shape contemporary jazz.
- 1Gonzalo Rubalcaba connects Cuban jazz to family traditions, piano-driven rhythm, and the country’s long engagement with American music.
- 2Melissa Aldana describes moving beyond a Chilean jazz upbringing to explore South American music and strengthen her Latin American identity.
- 3Their collaboration on Feeling adapts Cuban feeling and bolero through transcription, phrasing, and contemporary jazz improvisation.
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Melissa Aldana explains how transcribing the lyrics, melodies, phrasing, and vocal details of feeling-era songs shaped her saxophone approach.
The brief
Felix Contreras brings together Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana and Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba to discuss jazz across Cuba, Chile, and South America.
Rubalcaba traces his sound to Cuba’s musical openness, family influences, and pianists who fused American songs with Cuban tumbao and montuno patterns.
Aldana recalls growing up inside a Chilean jazz family, then looking toward Argentine rock and South American music to reconnect with her wider identity.
The conversation turns to Feeling, their collaboration on Cuban songs shaped by bolero; Aldana studied lyrics, melodies, phrasing, and vocal details through transcription.
Rubalcaba’s account of creating a distinctive sound, alongside reflections on Charlie Haden and Nocturne, frames collaboration as a route to an original voice.