Carmen Sandim
release date: october 25, 2019
About Carmen Sandim
From piano lessons as a little girl in Brazil, to composing for her jazz septet in Denver, Carmen Sandim has found in music her lifetime adventure and purpose.
Over the past few decades Carmen’s eclectic musical interests and aesthetics have drawn her in many directions: classical piano studies, jazz composition and performance, film scoring, and a long-lasting commitment to improvised music pedagogy.
Some notable ventures in her journey include experiences as a student at Berklee, where she enjoyed the guidance of world class musicians and educators such as Luciana Souza, Vuk Kulenovich, Hal Crook, Ed Tomasi, among others. After graduating, she moved to Washington, D.C., finding employment as a composer for radio, television, and political ads. She won several Addy Awards for compositional excellence, ran her own music production company, JAM – JustAddMusic, and had her work published and released internationally by the German publisher SONOTON.
Since moving to Colorado in 2005, Carmen has divided her time and efforts between teaching, performing, and composing. Her first album, Brand New, was released in 2011 on the Dazzle Recordings label, and was produced by revered pianist and jazz guru Art Lande. Brand New features trumpeter Ron Miles, saxophonist Danny Meyer, guitarist Matt Fuller, bassist Jean-Luc Davis, and drummer Josh Moore.
For her second album, Play Doh, Sandim once again enlisted her mentor, Art Lande, as producer for a book of expressive and intricate compositions ranging from quartet to nonet. The album features Sandim on piano alongside top-tier players Shane Endsley (trumpet), Bruce Williamson (reeds), Alex Heitlinger (trombone), Khabu Doug Young (guitar), Bill McCrossen (bass) and Dru Heller (drums); as well as special guests Bill Kopper (acoustic guitar) and Raoul Rossiter (percussion). Play Doh is scheduled to be released on Ropeadope Records in October, 2019.
Carmen Sandim holds a B.M. in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music, and a M.M. in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy from CU Boulder, she currently teaches at Naropa University, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and University of Colorado Denver.