On the evening of April 17th, Nubya Garcia performed at The Chapel in San Francisco. After making tour stops in Japan, Australia, and the UK, she was bubbly while sharing her excitement for her first show in San Francisco.
Before the show, everyone at the venue was laughing, chatting, and moving to the music while waiting for the opener. It wasn’t necessarily a typical scene or vibe for a “jazz” show. The audience was a little bit younger and the energy a little higher. The opener complemented this blossoming vibe perfectly. Magi (pronounced Madge-eye) Merlin, a new artist, performed with just her voice, a bassist, a DJ board and some synth action. She opened the concert on a raw emotional tone, and poured out her heart to the audience through her angelic vocals. A newer format of performance with live mixing on stage, Merlin set the tone that night for live improvisation and inspired creation.
Nubya Garcia opened with the first song, Dawn, from her new album Odyssey. The ethereal sound set the stage perfectly for the show to come. The song originally features Esperanza Spalding, but in her absence, Garcia adapted the song to her saxophone for the live performance. Garcia’s stage presence was well-honed. She commanded the stage and made it a lively and enjoyable performance to watch.
Max Luthert on bass, Sam Jones at the kit, and Lyle Barton on keys boldly took their solos throughout the performance, allowing each one to build slowly and naturally. Just like Garcia, their instrumentation was a display of incredible skill with a hefty dose of innate talent. The young bandleader grooved and danced along to the solos, encouraging the audience to do the same. She was excited to see her bandmates play and supported them before and after each solo, stepping to the side, smiling, dancing, and giving them props after.
Garcia knew that she was right where she belonged in front of the audience, letting her modern melodic ideas and razor-sharp technique prove it to us. What set her apart from many other jazz performers was her freedom onstage – she was able to move comfortably with her instrument as an extension of her own body and mind.
Later on, Garcia pulled out a song from an earlier album, a personal favorite, La cumbia me está llamando. The lights turned red, the bassist put on his stank face, and a flurry of saxophone notes with excellent rhythmic placement and a sprinting bassline encouraged the audience to dance and feel the music with their bodies. Garcia’s energy and grooves with her saxophone really set the experience apart; unlike most jazz shows with seated audiences, the whole crowd was moving on their feet. Guyanese and Trinidadian, Garcia draws heavily on her cultural background while composing. The result? A beautiful fusion of jazz with South American and Caribbean sounds weaved in between the notes. This piece is an incredible example of the new vision that this artist has for jazz, and marks an era of improvisation with a completely new sound. As a 30 year old woman of color headlining a tour with no vocal instrumentation, Garcia proved that she is dedicated to shattering the glass ceiling that comes with being a female instrumentalist in jazz. Her excellence simply raises the bar, and proved to us that no barrier or obstacle is too steep to overcome.
After a short while, Garcia transitioned into a calmer piece. It lulled us listeners down from our previous improv-induced high and brought out some sways from the older folks as well. Garcia played Water’s Path, a piece she composed for a 12 string ensemble. She shared with the crowd that this was a feat she had not thought herself capable of, but of course, she pulled it off perfectly. In the absence of twelve string players she adapted the piece to tenor sax entirely. Ending with that sweet solo serenade for the audience, Nubya Garcia gave us one last reminder that her otherworldly talents and insane technique will continue to shape modern jazz for many years to come.
By Dhalia Krishnan and Lauren McGilvray