Odyssey

When English saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Nubya Garcia released the wonderful Source in 2020, it was embraced by club and concertgoers, jazz fans and critics internationally. It was nominated for a Mercury Prize, and made no compromises in its bracing, modern approach to jazz, wedding it to Latin, Caribbean, and African sources. She followed it with Source: We Move, a collection of remixes in 2021, and a plethora of singles after that. Odyssey, her sophomore long-player, was co-produced with Kwes. Her longstanding quartet featuring pianist Joe Armon-Jones, drummer Sam Jones, and bassist Daniel Casimir, remains. Opener "Dawn" sounds like its title. Amid multivalently layered strings, piano, and Jones' rumbling, upright bass, guest Esperanza Spalding lends her inimitable vocal to the cut. It unfolds slowly and serenely with the saxophonist duetting vocally with Spalding as Armon-Jones drives the drummer to increase the tempo as his keys expand the harmony. The title cut is a gorgeous post-bop tune that freely engages modalism; it loosely recalls the early Blue Note compositional traits of Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter. The seamless interplay between Garcia and Armon-Jones registers poignancy and tension as the rhythm section provides ballast for their solos. Trombonist/vocalist Richie Seivright joins the band on "Set It Free." Casimir's rimshotted breakbeats provide the engine for mysterious Rhodes investigations and a weave of horns, reeds, winds, and reverb under Seivright's scatty vocal. It's followed by "The Seer," an intense post-bop jam with triple-timed junglist drumming, thrumming modal bassline, and Garcia's loping, incantatory solo in the horn's low register; Armon-Jones adds fat modal chords as her referent. Georgia Anne Muldrow adds her voice to "We Walk in Gold," a cinematic soul cut. Hand drums, skeletal piano, and Muldrow carry the intro and first two verses before Garcia's saxophone asserts with Ethio-jazz inspired motifs. Contrast this with "Waters Path," a lovely classical-crossover composition for chamber strings. Garcia and Armon-Jones engage the strings directly on the impressionistic ballad "Clarity." Closer "Triumphance" exists at the intersection of dub reggae, poetry, and modal jazz with loping circular rhythms. Garcia's and Kwes' sonic weave grabs onto Jones's guiding beats and underscores them with layered saxes, processional piano, and Casimir's deep dread bassline. Garcia adds chorus vocals to the backdrop. Odyssey isn't a next step for the artist, but a giant leap into unbridled inspiration, focus, and creativity. Like Source before it, this arrives at a captivating juncture in Great Britain's wildly diverse jazz scene, and will no doubt influence it. ~ Thom Jurek