Lucia Sarmiento is a stellar leader, saxophonist, and vocalist who has toured with the likes of Pitbull and Karol G., and has collaborated with many of the biggest names in music. This weekend, Sarmiento is celebrating the release of her debut album as a leader, Escape. She will play shows on Friday,February 21 and Saturday, February 22 at Berlin in Minneapolis.
Lucia stopped by Jazz88 to talk about the new album and her process behind it. Listen:
This interview originally aired on The Afternoon Cruise on 2/21/25
Jazz88 will be broadcasting portions of Lucia Sarmiento’s Saturday performance on The Jazz Impulse.
READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW BELOW:
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
It’s the Afternoon Cruise. I’m chatting with saxophonist and vocalist Lucia Sarmiento. In addition to being a stellar leader, Sarmiento has also toured with Pitbull and Karol G and collaborated with many of the biggest names in music. Sarmiento is celebrating the release of her debut album as a leader “Escape”. Now, we’ve been playing tunes from this album for quite some time, and it’s really exciting to see that it’s finally out as an album. In fact, I just got my own vinyl copy, which I’m very excited about. This weekend, Lucia is preparing for a two night stand at Berlin in North Loop. That’s tonight and tomorrow. In addition to Sarmiento and her band, she’s gonna have DJ Rulo Spinning after the set tonight and DJ Talia Knight spinning tomorrow. Lucia, congratulations on all your success, and thank you for visiting jazz 88
Lucia Sarmiento
thank you so much, Sean, for having me here today.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
It is a pleasure to have you in the building again. And making an album is a really different process than it was even just a handful of years ago. You’ve been releasing music from this album for quite some time. You filmed video of live performances. You filmed a romantic video where it’s you and your saxophone hanging out. You’ve done a lot to get this going on. You’ve been recording in many different studios. You’ve been doing things at home, and you’ve collaborated with lots of great players with all those pieces going and as you mentioned before, we started recording it being a one girl show, how do you make sure the music still feels like an album?
Lucia Sarmiento
Oh, that’s a good question, I guess. What do you mean by feeling like an album?
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
When I put it on this morning and last night, I felt like it was cohesive. I felt like, oh, from song to song, I kind of got the vibe. I got that it was very smooth and relaxing, but still full of exciting moments, and I didn’t go that’s gotta be a totally different drummer, totally different drummer, totally different guitar player, totally different this. There was a through line. That’s what I mean. There’s a through line on this record, but I know that you’re in different studios with different players, different collaborations. How do you keep the through line there?
Lucia Sarmiento
That’s a good question. I think, well, it’ll it’s all coming from the same brain, I guess. Does it make sense? Yes, I also, even though I do have different bands for, you know, several songs, I do have Rydell on bass on all the tracks, Kevin Gastonguay, way was most of the synthesizers on the record, which, you know, makes it sound like Kevin. And of course, the album was mixed by Snowman, so I guess maybe that’s what does it yes.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
That combination of some consistent players. But also, of course, a lot of different folks stepping in. Let’s give you a moment to flex. You got some big people on here. You got somebody from snarky puppy, you got Adam Meckler. You got a couple people, including Kevin Gastonguay, who play with Cory Wong, who are you most proud of as having a featured on the album?
Lucia Sarmiento
Oh my gosh, I guess. Well, of course, having Mark Lettieri from Snarky Puppy is something I could have never imagined that would happen having him on it. And, you know, I just I thought, what if I asked him to play on my album? And I decided to send that email, and he was so nice, and, you know, sweet about it, responded immediately. Sent me one amazing track of a guitar solo for Dreamland. And, you know, it’s a dream collaboration. And of course, here in Minneapolis, we have so many amazing musicians that I get to call now my friends, but at one time, I called my professors, you know, like Adam Meckler, and of course, having Kevin and David Feily, I think that everybody I cannot really fake drifting and flowing.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Yeah. Now you picked some original material for this album and also some renditions of other people’s work. And you did the tune porcelain, which is a Red Hot Chili Peppers tune. Is that right? Yes, correct. And you’re singing on that one? Yeah, and I’ve known you for quite some time. I was at McNally Smith at the same time you were I was working. You were finishing up your degree. I did not know that you were a vocalist, or at least a vocalist outside of, like, just singing a little bit with a group or something. I did not know either. Well, you sound like it’s been a part of your skill set for forever. What I’m curious about is, how do you get your vocal work in with your saxophone work and your flute work and your presentation of the Lucia Sarmiento experience, if you will?
Lucia Sarmiento
So I have played the saxophone for 20 years at this point, since I was a little girl, and that’s what I have always considered to be my main instrument, or my main voice, my main way of expressing and for this album, I decided I wanted to cover this beautiful song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And what if I sang on it? And to be fairly like, to be super honest, I had no training in vocals or anything at this point, but it was. Me just kind of saying, I want to try it, and I want to do it, and I figured it out like I always do, because I to be super honest, I never know what I’m doing. Just a decision, I want to do this, and then it gets done with a lot of hard work and perseverance. And after I recorded Porcelain, I thought, wow, I think I can add this to my palette of colors to express myself. And I want to discover my voice. You know, I have an instrument inside of my body that I have never really explored until, until now. So I hit up Rachel Holder, and I started taking vocal lessons with her, so she’s been my coach for about a year now. Okay, this is post recording of Porcelain. So now I’m starting to feel more confident and more, you know, in tune with my voice as a singer, which is, it’s a new thing for me.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
You should be so applauded. And you sort of say, I don’t know what I’m doing. I just do what I want to do and get it done. That’s exactly the spirit, oh, I’ll send an email to Mark Lettieri. We’ll see what happens, right? Yeah, you just go, Hey, this is where I kind of want to be headed. Let’s see if it can happen. Your courage to ask and your courage to try comes through in your music as well. It just it sounds like you’re pushing yourself to the limits of what you can do on your instrument, what you can do on your voice, what you can do as an ambitious recording artist. And I tip my hat to you for that. Thank you. It makes sense, Lucy, in that case, that you aren’t just going up for these shows, just with your band and going, Hey, here’s this fantastic music. Here’s this new album. You also have two DJs closing out the shows, DJ Rulo tonight and Talia Knight tomorrow. Both are Latin American women artists, and you’re also Latin American hailing from Peru. And I want to ask you, you know, when you sent me the email letting me know what’s going on, you took the trouble to mention that they’re both Latin American artists involved in this music. What matters to you about celebrating and involving other Latin American women in this music and in these celebrations?
Lucia Sarmiento
Well, I just cannot be more excited to be sharing the night with two other girls who are from the same continent where I grew up in. I think my journey as an instrumentalist woman has been quite lonely in a way. You know, I not in a bad way, just That’s That’s just how it is. There’s not very many of us doing, you know what I’m doing right now. So I think for the past 10 years, I I was doing this by myself, you know, learning music as a woman, as a Latin American woman, and now I get to share it with other girls who have the same life experiences as I do. So I think it’s exciting, and it’s also a new thing for me.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Now, in addition to brushing shoulders with fellow Latin American women who are professionals in the music world, you also are doing what you can to pay it forward and take the younger generation of women musicians and maybe make it a little less lonely. I mean, listen, music can be lonely for a lot of us, and I can imagine that traveling that journey as a woman is can be uniquely lonely, but experiences like you’ve done with Walker West, perhaps, are fighting against that a little to bring some women into the room together, women professionals can put their arms around and go, Hey, we’re gonna get through this together. We’re gonna learn these things together. You recently did a clinic. Can you talk a little bit about that experience with Walker West?
Lucia Sarmiento
Yeah, definitely. So first of all, I agree part of being an artist is also being in peace with your loneliness. That’s when you create so nothing, nothing wrong. But Katia Cardenas was very you know, she called me to organize this woman in jazz workshop, which was held at South High School two weekends ago. And it was a whole Saturday filled with music. All the instructors were women and the students as well, and I was in charge of creating the curriculum for it. So for the listening section, for example, we listened to Tia Fuller and Esperanza Spalding. And I try to include as much jazz made by a woman. We talked about our stories growing up being female instrumentalists. And, yeah, I mean, it was a super fun experience. The girls were killing in their instruments. We had a lot of fun. And this is something I wish I could have done when I was 12, so I’m happy that it’s happening now. I think there was a lot of healing that day for everybody involved.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Well, Lucia, considering all the opportunities you have to just share your own music and perform your in demand all over the world at this point, it’s really great that you’re making teaching and expanding that circle part of what you’re offering. So I tip my hat to you. Yes, I keep, I keep on asking you a question and then just going, hey. PS, you’re awesome, and then, but you are awesome. You’re in tune to the afternoon cruise. I’m chatting with Lucia Sarmiento. She’s got shows tonight and tomorrow over at Berlin. Now, this album is called Escape, and you mentioned that it’s a way to celebrate a world of freedom, adventure and self discovery. But music can be so. Micromanage now you put out a song, you know exactly how many people watched it on YouTube. Listen to it, you figure out, Oh, should I have done this differently? What if the camera angles have been differently? There’s so many things you can measure that it can be hard to keep that spirit of freedom and adventure, but I hear it in every note you play. I’m curious how you keep that going in this very micro, managed music world we live in?
Lucia Sarmiento
Hmm, that’s an interesting question. Well, I think 90% of the time I’m having fun with what I’m doing. I love what I do. I love music that 10% is writing emails. It doesn’t have anything to do with the music, but even if it’s creating content. You know, I’m a DIY musician, so I do everything myself, from managing my social media to like video editing. I did the cover art for the album. So, you know, all these other elements that are maybe not making music in itself, they’re still part of the music, music, and they’re just an extension of it. So it’s just another way to express it. And, you know, I, I believe that in order for music to fulfill its purpose, it needs to also be listened right? You’re creating something for someone else to listen to it and hopefully feel something, you know, evoke some sort of like memories or feelings in them. So this career or this job is about sharing. And nowadays we share through social media. So to me, it’s just part of the creative process. And I try not to stay too focused on that, because it’s just part of it. And I mean, we cannot be perfect.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Well, you know what? We can’t be perfect, but we’re on our way to being perfect when we remember that the music is about sharing and connecting, and that does come through. This does not sound like a just a sort of festival of celebrating all the scales you’ve learned. It sounds like something where you’re trying to to connect, and you got a lot of great players supporting that. I’ve been chatting with Lucia Sarmiento. She’s celebrating the release of her new album, her debut album, I might add, it’s called Escape, and she’s celebrating tonight and tomorrow at Berlin in the North Loop in Minneapolis. Lucia Sarmiento, thank you so much for visiting with jazz88 who’s gonna be on the band. Stand with you tonight, as far as the rhythm section and whatnot?
Oh my gosh. This weekend I have my dream team band. I have David Fiely on guitar, Jason Craft on keys, and he’s bringing a million synthesizers. Anibal Suarez on bass, Pete James Johnson on drums, and I’m gonna be on tenor saxophone and vocals.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
You must have booked those musicians in like 2022 to get them all available for a weekend, actually, yes. Lucia, good luck at the shows tonight and tomorrow. Thank you so much for visiting jazz 88 and thank you for putting some great music into this universe.
Lucia Sarmiento
Thank you so much for having me. Sean.
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