Contemporary Jazz Star Lucia Sarmiento on Twin Cities Roots, Escape, and lessons learned from the pop world

While there are, at a given time, countless great players in and around the Twin Cities music scene, few have seen their star rise in recent years quite like Saxophonist Lucia Sarmiento. Sarmiento, who was born in Peru, first found a home in the Cities while studying Jazz at McNally Smith. During her time in the Cities, Sarmiento left quite a mark on the scene, playing with many of the regions best players and groups in musical contexts that ranged from jazz to R&B to fusion and beyond.

For those in the know, Lucia was something of a player to watch, especially when working with the tremendous fusion outfit New Sound Underground. Naturally, it didn’t take long for the world to take notice. Her debut single, 2020’s “Escape,” an initial foray into contemporary jazz, became an instant favorite in that world and beyond, helping propel a burgeoning solo career. In the ensuing years, Sarmiento played huge venues around the world in the touring bands of Pitbull and Karol G.

Flash forward to 2025 and Sarmiento, now residing outside of Minnesota, has prepared her most significant work to date. Escape, her debut full length (releasing on Friday February 21^st) puts every aspect of her artistry on display. While Escape follows the Contemporary Jazz direction of the initial single in a sense, it is an eclectic, well-executed release that will connect with fans both inside and outside of that world. The compositions and arrangements are excellent, reflecting an artist drawing from every part of her diverse musical upbringing. A true fusion effort that bridges and blends myriad styles- various strains of jazz, funk, and pop among them-Escape is full of accessible melodies and memorable compositions that feel fresh even with repeat listens. Among the many standout moments are the hard-driving fusion of “Tape Town” and “Look up” which is an odyssey of a composition.

If the “Escape” single launched Sarmiento’s solo career, the album may well propel it to another level. On Friday and Saturday night, Sarmiento will celebrate the album’s release at the intimate Berlin. Joining her will be a band featuring some of the finest musicians in the area-David Feily, Jason Craft, Anibal Soares, and Pete James Johnson. For fans of contemporary Jazz, fusion, and anything in between or beyond, these shows will be well worth taking in. There’s nothing like hearing a big sound in an intimate setting, and these shows will certainly fit that bill.

Below is an Interview with Lucia Sarmiento. The following has been edited for consistency.

Music in Minnesota: I want to start at the beginning of your journey. I know you grew up in Peru. I’m curious how you got started on music and on the saxophone. What were some of your earliest musical inspirations?

Lucia Sarmiento: That’s a great question. Everything starts with me being an only child. My parents wanted me to try different activities. They just put me in all of them. I started playing classical guitar when I was seven. I was diving really deep into the classical guitar world. I was preparing to enter the national conservatory in Peru. When I turned eleven or twelve, I discovered the saxophone. I enjoyed it in my school’s band. I was playing more like jazz, more contemporary music instead of classical and I loved that world where everything was more exciting and more free. You have the option to improvise. The saxophone itself is also louder, and I didn’t have to be worried about the posture like I did with guitar. So, I kind of quit guitar at that point. I dove one hundred percent into saxophone and jazz music.

I started hearing Charlie Parker and John Coltrane-my saxophone teacher at the time showed me these artists, and I remember thinking that they were speaking a language I just couldn’t understand. So, it became this insane curiosity about trying to decipher what they were doing and that it what led me to want to pursue an education in jazz and brought me to the United States. I thought “Well if I want to learn this style of music, I need to go where it originated,” so I ended up in Minnesota.

MIM: I do want to touch on those Minnesota Roots. You’ve played all over the world, but can you speak to some of your formative experiences in and around the Minnesota Music Scene?

LS: I was very lucky to get a scholarship at McNally Smith College of Music, which is what brought me to the United States back in 2013. I studied with one of the best Minnesota Treasures, Pete Whitman-an amazing sax player-Scott Agster and Adam Meckler were my mentors who are now my colleagues and collaborators. Adam Meckler is on my album now. I think the city embraced me even though I’m a girl who came from another place. I didn’t grow up listening to funk or R&B, I learned it in Minnesota.

Back in 2015, this amazing Drummer Eric Gravatt, the drummer from Weather Report, called me to be in his band when I was still a student. I think he saw something in me so he decided to mentor me. So for a couple of years, I was playing with him. He was a person of few words, but he taught me some very important lessons about being on stage, showing up prepared, and how to play jazz.

MIM: Was Weather Report an influence on the record? Especially with the synthesizers on the album, were they of particular influence to you?

LS: Yes definitely, I love Weather Report. I love the Jazz fusion from the 80’s, it’s my favorite style, so definitely.

MIM: On the topic of local musicians, you’re playing with some real heavy hitters from a variety of musical backgrounds at your shows at Berlin. What, from your perspective, does this band bring to the table?

LS: First of all, David Feily, the guitar player, has been my longtime collaborator for almost 10 years at this point. We were in New Sound Underground that toured regionally and was very active in the Minneapolis Scene before the Pandemic. The band kind of dissolved after everybody went on tour. But Feily, he’s on the album, with the exception of one song, if you hear guitar on the album, it’s him. He has arranged one of the songs for the album too. Anibal, the bass player is insanely amazing. Also He’s Brazilian so we share a lot of culture, and  language in a way. My band is all longtime Minneapolis friends. I call them my “Dream team band” because they are my ‘A’ calls and they all happened to be available for this show.

MIM: As far as the album Escape, I’m curious how it came into form. The title track was released as a single in 2020. What was the recording process like? Was it recorded over several years?

LS: Escape started during the pandemic. The title track sort of says it, it was a way to escape from all the BS that was happening in that time. What I did was dive fully into the creative process of music, trying to come up with songs. This was a new process for me, I have been a sidewoman for ten years, playing for other people’s bands and projects. The pandemic gave me time to develop my voice as an artist. It started with the Single “Escape.” I almost became obsessed with the process of coming up with an idea, developing it, getting a band, and rehearsing, recording and producing it. From the beginning of an idea until you have a final product. Then it gets out into the world and heard by people. This circle, I strive to repeat it as many times as possible.

The album took five years to finish. I also went on tour while this was happening, so I kind of had to figure out how to keep working on this while I was traveling and playing on tour.

MIM: There are a few songs on the album I want to ask about specifically. “Look up” is a journey of a song in terms of the way it moves. That’s such a great melody, how did the ideas for that song come about?

LS: That’s a great question. “Look up” was actually inspired by Peruvian music originally. It doesn’t sound one hundred percent like it now, t sounds more like jazz fusion. The melody is in 12/8, and a lot of afro-peruvian music follows this rhythm as well. Originally the song was called “Peruvian Skies.” It was the middle of winter in  Minnesota, and I was super homesick looking out of my little window (Laughs). It was a snowy day, and I thought “I’ve got to write something that’s warm, that brings me back home.” It started with that idea from the beginning, that repetitive line in the intro. It Just kind of started painting itself.

MIM: Another interesting track is the John Mayer Cover, “Rosie.” It’s a great song that fits really well on the album. How did you come about recording that song, it’s such a Deep Cut.

LS: I have two covers on the album, one is John Mayer, and the other is The Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Porcelain”). They’re kind of my other loves besides Jazz Music. I wanted to do something with those songs. I love John mayer (laughs). I love rock, blues, and pop.

 MIM: You did mention touring. You have a lot of experience playing in the pop world. I imagine playing a show with Pitbull is very different than leading a quintet at Berlin. What have you found most rewarding about your work on those big tours?

LS:  For these big pop tours, I find that the music is one of the last things. There is so much happening when you have a huge production, a team of two hundred people, where everybody has a role in the show and everything has to be perfectly timed. You’re just a little piece in the huge puzzle. I learned so much, and had two very different experiences.

With Pitbull, I was playing the Saxophone and the Guitar and had more of what I would call a featured role in the show. I was on stage with Pitbull and I was dancing with him, going up to the front and interacting with him a lot. A lot of the show felt like acting for me. A lot of the lines musically were very simple, but the hardest part was the show itself-the energy I had to bring. I had to dance with the guitar, and act like I’m a rock star, which is very different from what I was used to doing. So that was super fun, like being an actress instead of a musician.

With Karol G, she’s a Latina artist, the whole show was all Latina and all women. It was a very sweet experience, but very different.

MIM: It all has to give you such a unique perspective to have experience in those worlds as well as the jazz world. Not a lot of artists have both.

LS: They also require very different skills. I have learned a lot just from being exposed to it. I came without experience being in the pop world. I was always a jazz girl. Now that I’m doing my own thing I consider it a mix of both worlds. I love jazz music and pop. For example, “Rosie,” or “Escape” or “Morning Delight,” they are leaning towards the pop side.

I also think what I have seen in the pop world is perfection, and extreme attention to detail in every single aspect of a show, not just the music. There is so much attention to detail in the storytelling, the outfits, the energy, the facial expressions. I really appreciate that now in a show. I think sometimes the jazz shows can be all about music. When you mix both, I think it levels up.

MIM: As well as performing, you are an educator and advocate for education. Can you talk about that aspect of what you do and how that has evolved?

LS: I have a YouTube channel where I post educational saxophone and jazz music videos. It also started during the pandemic, when I had a lot of free time to dive into a new project. I saw there was a lot of education out there in English. So if you don’t speak English, you don’t have access to a lot of it.

Sometimes my mom sends my videos about, health for example, a lot of it is very bad quality, and sometimes there’s a lot of fake news. So I thought it would be great if there was more information out there in Spanish. I started making these videos, and I think they were needed, because my channel kind of took off, and a huge community of Spanish speaking saxophonists and musicians formed there.

I have also taught for Chad LB’s saxophone workshop alongside Kenny G and some amazing, amazing sax players. I Love teaching, it’s a very big thing for me.