Nubya Garcia’s debut long player on the Concord Jazz imprint is vital international music from the beating heart of the city

After months of not even going near the tube, Nubya Garcia’s debut LP Source transformed a re-commuting test run from the most uneasy of experiences into one of reconnection. For the multi-hyphenate (saxophonist/composer/DJ/creative-force-to-be-reckoned-with) artist’s debut album proper feels like a document of city living. It essays the London of international flavours and musical open-mindedness. After feeling at a remove for months, I was reminded of London’s vitality. No wonder I kept the album on repeat after strapping on my ear goggles that day.

“Pace” starts in the front room and edges through to the back, shadows growing long as the musicians play on. This is prime night time music which is inviting, yet ferocious in its invitation to the listener. Like a holodeck locked in a jazz-times-gone-by groove, Garcia here offers visions of the past as viewed from the future. In other words, it’s a joint that absolutely exists in the now. Keeping on with the sinewy jazz manoeuvres, “The Message Continues” adds beathead percussion into the mix for a cut that comes off like Talkin’ Loud reinvigorated. Moses Boyd remains a useful contemporary comparison with his similarly fluid – and equally different – use of genre elements. “The Message Continues” is hot however you want to categorise it. “Source” then stalks the streets, a spacey dub workout that doubles up as soulful jazz under cover of buildings. Most impressive is the way it turns the corner into jazz, leans back into dub – winding its way, swinging back and forth, but carrying the different flavours throughout. Imagine the white walls of Tottenham Court Road station splashed with colour from the mind’s eye as you move under the heart of the city (at least I did). The track’s 12 minute runtime allows Garcia’s imaginative flow the space it deserves; patience in the journey is rewarded on every listen.

The production on “Inner Game” is all stacked beats, wrapped in bass; think Inflo does “Bug in the Bassbin”. Definite latter-day That’s How It Is vibes in the room. Garcia then gives the drummer some with “La cumbia me está llamando”. Hands-on percussion, winding saxophone and vocals from Colombian trio La Perla are shaped into a stripped-down number that nevertheless boasts the fullest feeling-through-sound. It’s where Garcia communicates both aloneness and community. The album ends on a cosmic note. “Boundless Beings” features Akenya’s spoken words sung from the depths of space-time: “We’re timeless creatures / You and me / Enter my dimensions / Show me a day of ecstasy / We’re boundless beings / We are free”. It’s as if Garcia is here channelling Sun Ra, but as across the rest of this intoxicating album, she does so in her own powerful voice.

Nubya Garcia Bandcamp

Stewart Gardiner
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