Carmen Sandim

An engaging jazz pianist, Carmen Sandim combines harmonically sophisticated post-bop with traditions from her native Brazil. Sandim first gained attention in the 2000s after moving to Boulder, Colorado. Her debut album, 2011's Brand New, featured cornetist Ron Miles. A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sandim studied music at Boston's Berklee College of Music, working with artists like Luciana Souza, Vuk Kulenovic, Ed Tomasi, and others. After graduating with her B.M. in Film Scoring, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she composed music for TV, radio, and political ads. She also launched her own music production company, and picked up accolades, including several Addy Awards for compositional excellence. In 2005, she moved to Boulder, Colorado where she earned her M.M. in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy from University of Colorado. Basing herself there, she began performing, as well as teaching at University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Denver, and Metropolitan State University of Denver. In 2011, she released her debut album, the Art Lande-produced Brand New. A quartet album, it found the pianist working with fellow Colorado luminary cornetist Ron Miles, as well as saxophonist Danny Meyer, guitarist Matt Fuller, bassist Jean-Luc Davis, and drummer Josh Moore. In 2016, she won a grant from Pathways to Jazz to record her sophomore album. Two years later, she returned with the Lande-produced Play Doh. Included on the album were contributions by Kneebody trumpeter Shane Endsley, saxophonist Bruce Williamson, guitarist Khabu Doug Young, and others.
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