Nubya Garcia

Nubya Nyasha Garcia (born 1991) is a British jazz musician, saxophonist, composer and bandleader.

Nubya Garcia
Garcia at INNtöne Jazzfestival 2019
Background information
Birth nameNubya Nyasha Garcia
OriginLondon, England
GenresJazz
InstrumentsTenor saxophone
Labels
Associated acts
Websitenubyagarcia.com

Life and work

Garcia was born in 1991 in Camden Town, London to a Guyanese mother, a former civil servant, and a British Trinidadian filmmaker father, the youngest of four siblings. Her uncle is John R. Rickford, who is the J. E. Wallace Sterling Professor of Linguistics and the Humanities at Stanford University.[1]

Garcia followed her three older siblings to the local Saturday music center at the age of 5, where she first learned the violin and later played the viola in the London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO). Garcia has said her home life with her stepdad,[2] a brass player with a vast collection of instruments, and her mother a keen collector of all genres of music from reggae and Latin to classical and soul, coupled with the music activities at school, Camden School for Girls,[3] meant she was saturated with music of all genres.[4][5][6]

Garcia began learning the saxophone at the age of 10,[5] with Vicky Wright. She became a member of the Camden Jazz Band, directed by jazz pianist Nikki Yeoh, before joining the junior jazz program at the Royal Academy of Music. She also attended the workshops of Tomorrow's Warriors under the direction of Gary Crosby. While still in high school, she received a scholarship for a five-week summer program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. During her gap year she studied with former Jazz Messengers member, Jean Toussaint. In 2016 she graduated with honours from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, in Jazz Performance.[1][7][8]

In 2017, Garcia released her debut EP Nubya's 5ive via the label Jazz re:freshed.[9][10] That year, her band was an opening act at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Festival in Sète;[11] the following year she played at the NYC Winter Jazz Festival[12] and the JazzFest Berlin.

In her 2018 EP When We Are, Garcia explored how electronics can be used in a live jazz environment; the EP was created with the support of the Steve Reid InNOVAtion Award, a development project between PRS Foundation and Steve Reid Foundation.[7] She is also a member of the collective Nérija[13][14][15] and the Afro-jazz ensemble Maisha.[16][17] In addition, she is a collaborator on albums by Makaya McCraven, Theon Cross, Moses Boyd, and Sons of Kemet to Shabaka Hutchings; contributions from her can be found on five tracks of Brownswoods We Out Here, a sampler album from the modern London jazz scene.

Garcia tours internationally, in Europe, India, Australia, and North America. She regularly performs at festivals in the UK including Love Supreme Jazz Festival[11][18] and NN North Sea Jazz Festival.[19] She has headlined sell-out shows at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.[20] Garcia also has a burgeoning reputation as a DJ, with a monthly radio residency on NTS Radio since November 2017.[21]

Garcia was supposed to perform at the Glastonbury Festival,[22] which had to be cancelled due to the increasing concerns over the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.[23]

Discography

Leader
  • Nubya 5ive (2017)
  • When We Are EP (2018)
  • "Pace" single (2020)
  • "Source" single (2020)
  • Source album (2020)[24]

Collaborations
  • Various Artists – We Out Here (2018)
  • Maisha – Welcome to a New Welcome (2016)
  • Maisha – There is a Place (2018)
  • Nérija – Nérija EP (2019)
  • Nérija – Blume (2019)
  • Various Artists - Blue Note Re Imagined (2020)

Features on
  • Ezra Collective – Juan Pablo: The Philosopher (2017)
  • Blue Lab Beats – Freedom (2017)
  • Joe Armon-Jones – Starting Today (2018)
  • Makaya McCraven – Where We Come From (2018)
  • Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings (2018)
  • Eun – Darkness must be Beautiful (2018)
  • Joe Armon-Jones – Turn To Clear View (2019)
  • Theon Cross – Fyah (2019)
  • Ben Hayes – Ready Yet (2019)
  • DJ Yoda – Home Cooking (2019)
  • Moses Boyd - Dark Matter (2020)

Awards

References
  1. Harris-Stoute, Cloyette (21 July 2018). "She Rocks! Meet Nubya Garcia, Award Winning Jazz Saxophonist & Composer". Guyanese Girls Rock!. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. Ryan, Rob (13 July 2017). "Trailblazing jazz hands of Nubya". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  3. "News about CSG Alumni". The Camden School for Girls. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  4. "Gilles Peterson with Nubya Garcia (Europe)". 19 December 2017 – via YouTube.
  5. "Nubya Garcia". Dark Arts London. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  6. "Nubya Garcia – Lost Kingdoms & Fly Free | Red Bull Music". 19 March 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2020 – via YouTube.
  7. "September Alumni Roundup". Trinity Laban. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  8. Hutchinson, Kate (15 February 2018). "One to watch: Nubya Garcia". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  9. "Nubya Garcia Releases Her Debut Solo EP "Nubya's 5ive"". Music Is My Sanctuary. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  10. "Nubya Garcia – Nubya's 5ive". Discogs. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  11. Peterson, Gilles (29 June 2017). "WORLDWIDE FESTIVAL 2017!!!!". Gilles Peterson. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  12. "Lineup Announced for 2018 Winter Jazzfest in NYC". JazzTimes. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  13. "Blume, by NÉRIJA". NÉRIJA. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  14. "Nérija". Rough Trade. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  15. Boyd, Lou (17 June 2019). "Learn Why Nubya Garcia is the Next Big Thing in Jazz". Red Bull. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  16. "Maisha". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  17. "Open The Gates, by Maisha". Maisha. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  18. "Nubya Garcia". Love Supreme Festival. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  19. "Nubya Garcia". NN North Sea Jazz Festival. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  20. "Ronnie Scott's 60th Anniversary Street Party". Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. 18 June 2020.
  21. "Nubya Garcia". NTS Radio. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  22. "Glastonbury 2020: all you need to know about dates, line-up, tickets and more for the 50th anniversary festival". NME. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  23. Bakare, Lanre; Morris, Steven (18 March 2020). "Glastonbury 2020: festival cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  24. Flynn, Mike (16 July 2020). "Nubya Garcia goes back to the Source for debut solo album and releases epic title track as first single". Jazzwise. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  25. "2018 Awards". Jazz FM Awards. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  26. Mayo, Douglas (1 July 2018). "South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2018 Winners Announced Today". British Theatre. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  27. Gilvear, Chris (30 April 2019). "Winners announced for the Jazz FM Awards 2019". Jazz FM. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
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