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Two Tenors Inspired By A Saxophone Colossus

Fresh Air | By Kevin Whitehead

Published August 14, 2014 at 2:49 PM EDT

Two new trio albums by tenor saxophonists who won the Thelonious Monk jazz competition share a conspicuous influence — vintage Sonny Rollins. Fresh Air critic Kevin Whitehead reviewsMelissa Aldana & Crash Trio by last year's winner, 25-year old Chile-born New Yorker Melissa Aldana, and Trios Live by Joshua Redman, who took the prize in 1991.

Kevin Whitehead

Kevin Whitehead is the jazz critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Currently he reviews for The Audio Beat and Point of Departure.

See stories by Kevin Whitehead

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