Growing up in Santiago Melissa Aldana learnt to play the tenor saxophone or 'horn' at her father's knee, though he took some convincing that she would stick with it. She did, and went on to become the first ever female instrumentalist to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Award in 2013. Melissa is now the leader of a successful jazz trio based in New York, and loves her work, but is concerned that a musician's life on the road will be hard to square with starting a family when the time comes.
South African musician Nomfundo Xaluva is winning awards for putting a new twist on her country's very strong jazz tradition. As well as singing and composing, Nomfundo says she is one of very few female black pianists in South Africa, and so feels responsible for being a role model to young girls. Being Xhosa, from the Eastern Cape, music forms a huge part of her culture, and she tries to incorporate this into her work, often singing in her mother tongue. Nomfundo reckons jazz is slowly becoming hip again, and she is excited to be a part of that.
L-Photo: Melissa Aldana. R-Photo: Nomfundo Xaluva.