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After Hours with Peruvian saxophonist Lucia Sarmiento and her Quintet

The Lucia Sarmiento Quintet in the Current studios recording a session for Andrea Swensson's jazz series After Hours.
The Lucia Sarmiento Quintet in the Current studios recording a session for Andrea Swensson's jazz series After Hours.Andrea Swensson/MPR
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by Andrea Swensson

October 08, 2015

After Hours with Lucia Sarmiento Quintet, "Groove Sauce"
by MPR
After Hours with Lucia Sarmiento Quintet, "Chincha"
by MPR

Our guest on this week's show was discovered by my co-producer, Evan Clark, who happened upon saxophonist Lucia Sarmiento and her quintet at a gig. Evan was instantly won over by her emotive playing and obvious technical ability, and as soon as they starting playing their first song on the studio, I could understand just what he loved about her group.

Lucia was born and raised in Lima, Peru, and studied jazz harmony and improvisation there with the renowned guitarist Andres Prado before moving to Buenos Aires to study at the Conservatorio de Musica Manuel de Falla and eventually landing at McNally Smith here in St. Paul. I was eager to ask Lucia how she ended up in our fair city and what the differences are between the jazz conservatories in South and North America, and how she assembled such a smoking hot band.

Performers

Lucia Sarmiento (saxophone)
Juan Paguelo (piano and keyboard)
Trevor Wiest (guitar)
Ry Dill (bass)
Blake Huebel (drums)

Songs

"Chincha" (composed by Andres Prado)
"Groove Sauce (composed by Ry Dill)

Credits

Hosted by Andrea Swensson
Produced by Evan Clark and Andrea Swensson
Engineered by Evan Clark
After Hours Theme by Andrea Swensson, performed by the Lucia Sarmiento Quintet