On her stunning debut, the tenor saxophonist and rising member of the London jazz scene meditates on her humble family heritage, the continuum of jazz history, and the power of collective action in our present moment.
For new listeners and latecomers, there was no handier introduction to London’s vibrant, bustling jazz scene than Gilles Peterson’s 2018 compilation We Out Here. Curated by the scene’s own breakout star Shabaka Hutchings, the set showcased a new generation of artists melding jazz classicism to Afrobeat, neo-soul, electronic music, and ambient. And no one worked harder than tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia, present on five of the comp’s nine pieces. Hailing from an immigrant family—her mother from Guyana, her father from Trinidad—she grew up in a musical family in the London borough of Camden, starting first on piano and violin before gravitating to a “broken as hell” old clarinet. She came up with other groups like Maisha and the septet Nérija, and she’s remained busy ever since, her presence felt on Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings and Sons of Kemet’s Your Queen is a Reptile as well as Moses Sumney’s grae. No matter where she appears, she brings an exploratory, energized spirit, always playing in service to the song, never overshadowing the music, only elevating the proceedings.
That spirit and openness translates readily to Garcia’s long-anticipated debut, Source. Recorded with producer Kwes, whose credits range from Solange and Bobby Womack to Nérija, the album pushes Nubya Garcia and her tight-knit group into new territory while also remaining firmly rooted in jazz. And while her previous EPs popped up and soon disappeared on smaller labels, she now finds herself label mates with another dynamic jazz figure, Esperanza Spalding. Switching from dub reggae to cumbia to classic balladry, Garcia meditates on her humble family heritage, the continuum of jazz history, and the power of collective action in our present moment.
“Pace” serves as an empathic mission statement. As she recently told Downbeat, it refers to the hectic lifestyle of a gigging Londoner, but “Pace” embodies a whole range of emotions. Propelled by keyboardist Joe Arman-Jones’ cascading chords, the group soars and then deftly lands back where they began. Garcia’s solo calmly navigates it all: fiery and supple, dizzying and lyrical. You can hear how she’s garnered comparisons to the greats: Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Gary Bartz.
Garcia never overpowers her bandmates, instead slotting into the contours her band provides, whether it’s the nimble soul jazz of “The Message Continues” or the Ethio-jazz flavor of “Inner Game.” On the meditative R&B of “Stand With Each Other,” augmented by Nérija trumpeter MS Maurice (aka Sheila Maurice-Grey) and a trio of vocalists, Garcia’s horn barely rises above a purr, and doesn’t need to: her tone entwines with the wordless humming to generate a low-key warmth and benevolence.
Source thrills most when it delves into non-traditional jazz rhythms from the Afro-Caribbean diaspora, as on the traditional “La cumbia me está llamando,” recorded in Bogota. But it’s the sprawl of the title track that best captures Garcia’s creative arc the past few years. “Source”’s exploratory 12 minutes open with the echoing snares and firecracker hi-hats of drummer Sam Jones and skanking staccato chords from Arman-Jones, all earmarks of dub reggae. Airy vocal “ahhhs” slowly lead us into Garcia’s solo, which carefully scales up from dubbed-out vibrato lines to blowing full-on fire by the end. Arman-Jones’ toggles between electric and acoustic, subtly pulling the piece into cosmic jazz territory.
By the end, the piece has seemingly traveled miles, and in so doing traced Garcia’s own steadfast journey. She has called the album a story “about my heritage, my ancestry, exploring those places and those stories from my parents and my grandparents.” On Source, she weaves together so many threads so masterfully that she instantly establishes herself as a foundational voice in the larger, ongoing story of the London jazz scene. Her debut is a stunning introduction.
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