Odyssey (Concord Jazz)
Nubya Garcia
Released September 20, 2024
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About:
Odyssey is, as the title suggests, an ambitious, epic journey of an album. In a largely male-dominated scene, Garcia has carved herself a prominent space and she invites other brilliant Black women musicians to join her on this adventure, namely: esperanza spalding, Richie Seivwright, and Georgia Anne Muldrow. Odyssey is produced by Garcia and returning collaborator Kwes.
Describing Odyssey, Garcia says; “It represents the notion of truly being on your own path, and trying to discard all the outside noise saying you should go this way or that way.” It’s also inspired by life’s ever-changing, ever-continuing adventure, the twists and turns of living. Musically, the album finds Garcia orchestrating strings for the first time, having fallen back in love with composition and then studying a vast array of orchestral sounds. The bigger, bolder result is a widescreen soundscape that traverses jazz, classical, R&B and dub. Following Garcia’s widely celebrated and Mercury Music Prize nominated 2020 debut, Source, the forthcoming album Odyssey is available to stream and purchase here, and the artwork and track list are included below.
We also highlight a very special focus track, “Dawn” featuring esperanza spalding. Says Garcia of the track: “every day for several weeks, it really got in my head in a good way and just encouraged me to pause and realise the power of that intention and shifting my rhythm. This composition began with this melody on one of those mornings, I started humming it to myself and there began its journey. After building in the harmony, the arrangement and the ideas, I knew that this would be a special melody to have a duet with saxophone and voice, and esperanza spalding’s inspiring storytelling and incredible vocals was who I heard joining me.”
Nubya Garcia is a multi award-winning artist. She has toured extensively, playing venues and festivals across Latin America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and the United States. Her reputation as a DJ is also burgeoning; she helmed a popular radio residency on NTS, and plays a growing number of live sets across Europe. Garcia has collaborated with major brands such as Lululemon, Paul Smith, Labrum, Nicholas Daley and Burberry, and as a composer, her original music has been placed with Apple TV (Ted Lasso); OWN Network (Cherish The Day); FX TV (Atlanta); EPIC GAMES (Fortnite); and on multiple podcasts (including the theme tune for Anika Noni Rose’s Clio award-winning podcast Being Seen).
Track Listing:
1. Dawn feat. esperanza spalding 4:52
2. Odyssey 7:23
3. Solstice 4:49
4. Set It Free feat. Richie 4:06
5. The Seer 5:02
6. Odyssey (Outerlude) 0:47
7. We Walk In Gold feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow 3:54
8. Water’s Path 4:01
9. Clarity 6:15
10. In Other Words, Living 4:07
11. Clarity (Outerlude) 1:37
12. Triumphance 5:54
Personnel:
Nubya Garcia: tenor saxophone
Joe Armon-Jones: piano, Fender Rhodes
Daniel Casimir: bass
Sam Jones: drums
Jansen Santana: percussion
Sheila Maurice-Grey: trumpet
Rosie Turton: trombone
Chineke! Orchestra: Elliot Bailey (cello), James Douglas (cello), Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE (double bass), Beatrice Slocumbe (viola), Natalia Senior-Brown (viola), Elodie Chousmer-Howelles (violin), Julian Gil Rodriguez (violin), Robert Miller (violin), Ronald Long (violin), Blaize Henry(violin), Rebekah Reid (violin), Steven Crichlow (violin)
Baby Sol, Kianja, Zara McFarlane: backing vocals
Featuring
esperanza spalding, Richie Seivwright and Georgia Anne Muldrow: vocals
Recorded at British Grove Studios, by Felipe Gutierrez; The Church, London, by Luke Pickering; Very Special Studios, Tarzana, CA, by Noah Issa-Abbas (track 7)
Strings recorded by Jeremy Murphy
Mixed by kwes
Additional Mixing: Nubya Garcia
Mastered by Paul Blakemore
Photography by Marcus Grey
Package Design: Jeremy Ngatho Cole
Producer: Nubya Garcia and Kwes
Review:
Leading UK saxophonist Nubya Garcia is set to return with her first full new studio album since her breakthrough 2020 LP, Source, which saw her nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, grace the cover of Jazzwise and firmly established her as one of the biggest names to emerge from the explosion of new British jazz.
With new album Odyssey released on 20 September on Concord Jazz, the first single, ‘The Seer’, reflects Garcia’s efforts to ‘find clarity’. Speaking about the track, Garcia said it’s like “wishing that you could get a peek at the future, or even just gathering some guidelines in your own future so that you could know that you’re on the right path.”
Odyssey, as the title suggests, an ambitious, epic journey of an album. In a largely male-dominated scene, Garcia has carved herself a prominent space and she invites other top black female musicians to join her on the record, namely Esperanza Spalding, Richie Seivwright and Georgia Anne Muldrow. The album is produced by Garcia and returning collaborator Kwes, with the saxophonist backed by her powerful trio of pianist Joe Armon-Jones, bassist Daniel Casimir and drummer Sam Jones.
Describing the overarching theme behind the project, Garcia says: “It represents the notion of truly being on your own path, and trying to discard all the outside noise saying you should go this way or that way.” It’s also inspired by life’s ever-changing, ever-continuing adventure, the twists and turns of living. Musically, the album finds Garcia orchestrating strings for the first time, having fallen back in love with composition and then painstakingly studied a vast array of orchestral sounds. The bigger, bolder result is a widescreen soundscape that traverses jazz, classical, R&B and dub.
Mike Flynn (Jazzwise)
