ALDEN HELLMUTH
New York–based alto saxophonist and composer Alden Hellmuth is proud to announce the release of her debut album Good Intentions on the storied Fresh Sound New Talent label. Throughout this inspired set of original compositions, Hellmuth animates her sound with a churning rhythmic energy and a searching lyricism, all conveyed with tremendous facility and imagination on the horn.
Guitarist Lucas Kadish is her partner in the front line, with sought-after trumpeter Josh Evans (Christian McBride’s New Jawn) making captivating appearances on “The Gavel,” “Personal Saints” and “Ambrosia & Vetiver.” Pianist Yvonne Rogers, doubling on Wurlitzer on “Stream of,” brings her rich sonic and harmonic sensibility to Hellmuth’s compositions, while bassist Kanoa Mendenhall and drummer Timothy Angulo are refined, supple and full of fire as a rhythm section. Chris McCarthy, on Rhodes, adds a beguiling, celeste-like sonority on “Personal Saints,” a kind of mini-feature for Mendenhall on bass, with shifting pedal points and washy guitar chords.
“This album is an exploration of sonic intention, dissonance in the absence of resolution, and the tenderness of expression,” Hellmuth writes. “It is a deeply personal and unapologetic reflection of who I am at this moment.” What got her here, as a native of Hartford, Connecticut, was growing up surrounded by the legacy of Jackie McLean, founder of the Jackie McLean Institute at Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, where Hellmuth studied with saxophone great Abraham Burton. The artistic qualities she honed there have brought her major honors, currently as a Master’s candidate at the famed Herbie Hancock Institute at UCLA.
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