5 Records with Nubya Garcia

“I set out to make something that transverses genre,” saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia says about her aptly titled new album Odyssey. “Music is music, and this incessant need we have to put it into boxes doesn’t always help creators to actually push themselves. This album taught me to color outside the lines, having confidence in the way I inhabit musical space.” 

Produced alongside Kwes and boasting a cast of collaborators including Esperanza Spalding and Georgia Anne Muldrow, Garcia’s new album interweaves disparate influences — neo-soul, dub reggae, modal jazz, and third-stream orchestral arrangements — into the same sonic fabric. She spoke to Discogs about how these touchstones informed her new body of work. 

“All of the music I’ve chosen puts a smile on my face, whatever mood I’m in,” Garcia explained about her selections. “They bring me back to a place that makes me feel incredibly grounded.”

Nubya Garcia: I came to Coltrane quite early, when I was 12 or 13 — it’s unusual for a teenager to be listening to this dense and spiritual work. I’ve been listening to it for close to twenty years, and I guarantee you every time I listen to it, I can hear something different. I went through a period of maybe a year or two where I was listening to it every day.

I think it’s influenced everything I’ve ever done as a composer and a player. People who know me know that John Coltrane is one of my greatest influences amongst all instruments. [A Love Supreme] really is one that sums up true connection and the fire and visceral nature of diasporic Black American music.

The way that (pianist) McCoy Tyner supports and weaves in and around Coltrane’s saxophone improvisations, the way that (bassist) Jimmy Garrison lays down the bottom end of everything, and you’ve got (drummer) Elvin Jones skating in and around the compositions — they come together like a pre-explosion. That in itself has influenced how I want my music to feel. I want it to have a direct impact on your heart and soul, whether that be through high energy or more soft, ballad-like moments. It’s modal jazz at its finest, which will always be at the center of my musical heart. 

Interplay is something that the band and I have a great respect and appreciation for. We are constantly upholding that because we all grew up within the idiom of jazz. We could all be playing the same standard and not listening to each other, but that doesn’t make it feel good. How are you pushing each other to reach another space? If you’re dialed in and listening, that’s everything. I definitely hold that as something that I’m trying to do.

I felt naughty choosing a live album, but [Experience: Jill Scott 826+] has been played in my life so much. I love to hear her interacting with the crowd and the conversations that she’s having within the music, explaining some of the stories behind the songs. It makes me feel like I was there. 

I might have listened to this album more than any of her studio albums. It holds a special place in my heart when you can feel the energy — it’s so much different than a studio album. This shaped the way that I think about shows and how I understand audience participation and appreciation, the giving and receiving that comes with being in a performance space. I actually got to see her for the first time last year in London, and it was a special experience. 

When I was a teenager, YouTube was just starting to pop off, and at university, people were like, “Oh my god, I just saw the live video of Wayne Shorter in 197-whatever,” and I was actually listening to the live version. I’m just not the YouTube generation. I have a soft spot for live albums.

My stepdad used to be the landscape gardener for Jazzie B, so I was used to hearing his name from a young age. I was like, “Wow, this guy’s so cool, he’s got this band and this big hair.” Then I got older and really dug [into] how incredibly special and unique they are. 

The fact that they came out of Camden… I felt extreme pride. Ten years from when I got deep into them, they’re still in heavy rotation. They just get me feeling optimistic and excited, really connected to the way the stories are told. It’s super catchy. It feels like home for me, and I’m definitely within the sound of that. It’s very much what I heard at home. I also saw them for the first time this summer.

Anyone who knows me knows I love dub, and I always have — that is something I heard a lot of at home. I started going to sound systems in London, and this is one of those albums that I always go back to. King Tubby is crowned king for a reason. He had a huge impact on the sound of the genre as an engineer and producer. He’s got so many disciples — I hate using that word, but there are a lot of producers who admire him and understand that you get only a few of those a generation. 

I find this album incredibly nostalgic to listen to, and it also brings me back into the present. Whether I’m driving, walking, or sitting in the studio and listening to it, I feel encased in the sound. That’s something I want in my music. I want my music to feel like it’s all around you. The beauty of sound system culture is that it’s not just attacking you with volume — it’s so intricate, the way the engineers work with them. 

All the sound systems have their own particular sound: you could play the same track on all of them, and they’d sound different. All of their sound systems have their own particular sound. I think I really understood from King Tubby’s records to have the confidence to build a sound of your own, to be specific with it, be particular with it.

I want my bass to feel heavy and also warm. I want there to be a sprinkling of lightness to it. I want it to hit you in the center of your chest, but I also want it to hit you in your feet. It’s medicine. When you sit in front of a proper, serious stack, the frequencies are incredibly healing, depending on how they’re looked after. It makes a huge difference in how you hear the music.