It is an unusually rich season for good jazz in the local live concert realm this year, with an emphasis on artists well-established in the larger and global scene. And in the all-important area of spotlighting emerging artists, this week brings along the impressive young singer known as Lucía, making her Santa Barbara debut at Hahn Hall, on Thursday, April 30.
Aptly, her appearance is part of UCSB Arts & Lecture’s much-valued “Hear & Now” series, which has, for more than a decade, hosted debut appearances by rising artists, although mostly from the classical world. Incidentally, one of the most famous examples is prominent pianist Yuja Wang, appearing at the Granada on Thursday, April 23, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (story here).
Lucía, born Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso in Veracruz, Mexico, is steeped both in jazz and her native Son Jarocho music. But in jazz, she gained a prestigious upward bump in public exposure after winning the coveted Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition in 2022.
Just as local and global audiences have been dazzled by the old soul maturity of twentysomething jazz sensation Samara Joy, it is a bit disarming to learn that the mature and measured sound of Lucía’s singing emanates from a 24-year-old. But there it is, rich and deep, as heard on her impressive eponymously titled debut album (hear here), produced by famed veteran Matt Pierson and blessed with backing from some of the finest Latin diaspora jazz artists out there — Venezuelan-in–San Francisco pianist Ed Simon, Puerto Rican–in–New York David Sanchez (hear him on the closing track, “Como Fue”) and, prominently, the great Mexican-born drummer Antonio Sanchez.
(Sanchez has appeared in Santa Barbara several times, in connection with Pat Metheny and bringing his own distinctive live soundtrack to Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film Birdman, at the Arlington.)
On her album, Lucía gives fresh polish to such standards as “What a Difference a Day Makes,” “You Must Believe in Spring,” and “Beautiful Love,” but also moves into ravishing versions of such Mexican gems as “La Llorona” and a passionate take on “Alfonsina y el Mar.” Then, showing her youth, she offers up a Latin-ized version of Taylor Swift’s “Willow.”
The Hahn Hall show promises to be another welcoming moment for an artist deserving of this and future visits to town. She’s only just begun.
UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Lucía at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall on Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m. See artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/events-tickets/events/25-26/lucia for more information.
