Nubya Garcia – Odyssey (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 52:53 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Concord Jazz
The multi-award-winning tenor saxophonist, bandleader and composer Nubya Garcia’s new album, Odyssey, is out Sept. 20 (Concord Jazz). Following her critically acclaimed debut album, SOURCE, Odyssey is a majestic feat that blends orchestral arrangements with R&B, jazz and dub. Produced by Garcia in collaboration with Kwes, Garcia returns with Joe Armon-Jones (keys), Daniel Casimir (bass), Sam Jones (drums). Featured guests include Esperanza spalding, Georgia Anne Muldrow and more.
Nubya Garcia is charting a bold and exciting path forward as one of the stars of the increasingly hybridized jazz world. After studying at the Royal Academy of Music, Berklee College of Music, and Trinity Laban Conservatoire, the saxophonist/composer came to wider notice on Giles Peterson’s 2018 compilation We Out Here, an essential survey of young U.K. artists boldly mixing jazz with Afrobeat, dub, neo-soul, and a spectrum of electronic music. Garcia’s awesome and exploratory debut full-length album, 2020’s Qobuzissime-awarded Source, was a stunning introduction to her generous spirit and skills as composer, bandleader, and virtuoso musicians, and 2023’s Live at Radio City Music Hall further cemented her prowess as a live performer. Like Source, Odyssey is co-produced by U.K. talent Kwes., who’s worked on album projects with Solange and toured with Bobby Womack. Garcia’s core band here is her longtime quartet of bassist Daniel Casimir, drummer Sam Jones, and pianist Joe Armon-Jones; an all-star guest list of Esperanza Spalding, Richie Seivwright and the great Georgia Anne Muldrow each contribute their voices to individual tracks. Garcia’s palette, which blends improvisation with through-composed passages, has grown more expansive. The emphasis is on magnitude and giving each track a dense feel, like on the sweeping opener “Dawn,” with Spalding in the spotlight showing off her singing gifts. Instrumental jazz returns in the title track as Armon-Jones stretches out his fluid improvisations while Garcia’s sax, bathed in presence-affirming echoes, deftly states and restates phrases before her orchestration skills take over a final string section where violins soar over cellos. Garcia’s writing for strings, and her chops as an arranger, return in the modern, moody, midtempo tone poem, “Clarity”—her horn working in rich, dusky low tones. An emphatic reggae beat powers the closer,”Triumphance,” where Garcia voices the words that speak of how “our differences can be our collective power” and how “no one’s journey looks the same, be open to uncovering it.” Bursting with ideas and the talent needed to bring them to fruition, Garcia’s star shines even brighter the second time out. – Robert Baird
Tracklist:
1-01. Nubya Garcia – Dawn (04:52)
1-02. Nubya Garcia – Odyssey (07:23)
1-03. Nubya Garcia – Solstice (04:49)
1-04. Nubya Garcia – Set It Free (04:05)
1-05. Nubya Garcia – The Seer (05:02)
1-06. Nubya Garcia – Odyssey (Outerlude) (00:47)
1-07. Nubya Garcia – We Walk In Gold (03:54)
1-08. Nubya Garcia – Water’s Path (04:01)
1-09. Nubya Garcia – Clarity (06:15)
1-10. Nubya Garcia – In Other Words, Living (04:07)
1-11. Nubya Garcia – Clarity (Outerlude) (01:37)
1-12. Nubya Garcia – Triumphance (05:54)
