About Elaine Lucia
Roots of a Versatile Voice
She’s best known as a long-time creative force on the San Francisco Bay Area jazz scene, applying her pure tone and conservatory-honed technique to an alluring repertoire gleaned from the American and Brazilian songbooks and far beyond. The music has been there from the beginning, as her youth in rustic upstate New York was filled with glorious sound. She first sang in choirs and local musical theater productions, often walking or riding her bike several miles from her rural home to rehearsals in the nearby town. She taught herself to play the guitar, piano, and flute, and formed or sang in countless ensembles, performing everything from classical and country to jazz, rock, and R&B.
At 15, she started studying opera and the classical repertoire with the local opera company. A summer scholarship to attend the Chautauqua Institute for the Arts gave her a jolt of confidence, and after graduating early from high school she won a theater scholarship to Binghamton University (then known as SUNY Binghamton). She performed in various musicals and sang with the university’s big band, which is where she experienced a musical epiphany when legendary pianist Marian McPartland performed as the orchestra’s guest artist.
She pursued graduate studies via a vocal scholarship at Eastman School of Music, focusing on the classical repertoire by day and immersing herself in Rochester’s lively jazz scene at night. When federal grant money was cut right before her senior year, Lucia lit out for the San Francisco Bay Area and quickly established herself as a creative force, contributing background vocals at recording sessions and performing with her own jazz group at clubs around the region.
From Jazz Standards to Soulful Originals
Her impressive 2001 debut album “Elaine Lucia….Sings Jazz and Other Things” (Raw Records) earned strong reviews and propelled her onto the national stage. She followed up with 2006’s “A Sonny Day,” a tribute to her late, jazz-loving father, Frank “Sonny” Lucia. Lucia completed her jazz trifecta with 2008’s critically hailed “Let’s Live Again,” a tribute to the sensuous George Shearing Quintet albums with singers such as Nat “King” Cole, Peggy Lee, Dakota Staton, and Nancy Wilson. She didn’t know it at the time, but she offered a sneak peek at her musical future with the concluding track, her original song “Sayulita.”
Lucia’s 2020 release Twist Run Road marked a significant creative milestone, as it was her first album featuring entirely original songs. Although she had been writing music since teaching herself guitar at age 12, she rarely performed her own material with her jazz ensembles. Feeling her compositions might not be commercially viable and humbled by the immense talent of the virtuoso guitarists in her bands, Lucia lacked the confidence to share her work. Her guitarist friends inspired her to improve her guitar skills, and with their encouragement, she eventually brought her original songs to a rehearsal. Hearing a professional jazz group perform her music for the first time was a deeply emotional experience, moving her to tears and giving her the motivation to record Twist Run Road.
The recording process was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lucia completed the album remotely and released it in September 2020. Wanting to share something meaningful during such difficult times, she made all 12 tracks available for free on her website, hoping the music might offer some comfort to those who listened.
Sign up now and receive a link to hear the first single, “I Doubted” which will drop in October!
New Album: "Soul to Soul," Releasing in January 2025
Four years in the making, “Soul to Soul” is Elaine Lucia’s most ambitious and diverse album yet. Featuring guest vocalists who lend their harmonies to each track, the album is a unique blend of genres, each song telling its own story. From jazz/folk to pop, bluegrass, Latin, and singer-songwriter ballads, every track offers something completely different. This is an album where no two songs sound alike, yet all connect through a deep sense of love and harmony.
