Concert Review: Nubya Garcia, Ardmore Music Hall
May 7, 2025
Photographs by Stanley Collins
On April 2nd, saxophonist and composer, Nubya Garcia performed at Ardmore Music Hall, an independent venue just outside of Philadelphia. For Garcia, who is British-born with roots in the Caribbean (Guyana and Trinidad, in particular), this show marked the second night of her first headlining, North American tour. The tour comes in support of Odyssey, her 3rd studio album, which was released late last year.
I attended Garcia’s show with Kevin (Deputy Chief of Ideas for 808s and Jazz Breaks aka “Friend of the Blog” and friend IRL). Nubya Garcia came on our radar back in 2020, following the release of her then new album, SOURCE — a collection of 9 songs that could be described as “Jazz,” but there’s something more to her sound, her project. Drum and Bass, Hip-Hop, R&B, Reggae, and so on all are present. Needless to say, this a show we’ve been looking forward to. After the concert, we talked about what Garcia’s music makes us feel, our favorite moments from the show, and more! You can read our conversation here:
Stanley: Before getting into the show itself, I wanted to start with Nubya Garcia's music, in a general sense. How does her music make you feel?
Kevin: To your question about how her music makes me feel - Nubya during one of her moments of speaking to the crowd said something I think captures how I feel about her music.
As she was burning the incense of a scent that she curated, she mentioned that she wants to tap into all of her senses. And, for me, I feel like her music is best described and experienced through that lens. Nubya’s music as a whole sensory experience.
There has been this throughline recently in our reviews talking about music, and art at large, as a sort of therapy/gateway into meditation and mindfulness. Nubya Garcia’s art is an anchor for my own awareness. An anchor for remaining present in the body and mind. I may need the science on this lol but there is a tone and rhythm to her saxophone playing that calms my mind. Playing her music, I often feel like I want to burn a candle or incense and go on the musical journey, an odyssey if you will, with her.
I mainly play her music while at home because the music recalls feelings of home. There’s normally this desire to be as comfortable as possible listening to her music. So I can tap into all my senses. Nubya’s music is a full sensory experience. And in a world where not a lot of things feel like it demands your full attention, things can feel superficial - her art is not that. And I appreciate it.
What about you though? Any of this resonate for you when you listen? How does her music hit you?
Stanley: I love the idea of her music being a multi-sensory experience. I wanted to riff on your note of the timbre of her saxophone because I think it ties to some of my thoughts. One of the things I appreciate about her approach to the instrument is that it feels like a human voice, lyrical even. Saxophones — like any mechanical instrument — can become a cascading array of notes at times, which can be cool, but, this is also to say, there's a patience to her playing that I appreciate, it slows me down. On a song like The Seer — which is a pretty high intensity tune — her saxophone feels like it's playing at a different pace, a slower one.
I also get a strong sense of place in her music. After the show, I mentioned how, in my class, we were reading about colonialism and the history of Jamaican popular music. In one part of the text, it discusses the migration of Black folks from Jamaica, and the Caribbean at large, to the United Kingdom during the late-1940s, and how they brought their music with them. I feel that sense of place, the Black diaspora, in her music (particularly on a song like Triumphance, which has this strong “riddim,” backbeat played on the drums; the drums at the beginning of Dawn are reminiscent of African drumming patterns).
What did you think about Nubya Garcia's live show? What were some of your favorite moments?
“One of the highlights for me was during a monologue to the crowd when she said, ‘we can all do hard things. Even, or especially, when we don’t feel like or know if we can.”
Kevin: A few things stood out for me regarding Nubya Garcia’s live show. First, I think the intentionality was evident. From the flowers draped on the microphone stand to the burning of incense, the vibe was set. Early on in the show she also gave the audience permission to receive her music in whatever way we’d like. Sway, dance, reflect, etc. — and I know she said that we don’t need her permission to do what we want. But I do think an artist setting the tone and letting the audience know that it is okay to be yourself is important. I’ve been to shows where the artist onstage seemed to expect/desire more outward expression from us. Or wanted us to react in a particular way. I appreciated Nubya’s invitation to come and be as we are.
She also seemed to be very present. She was often in conversation with audience members throughout the night from the stage and I can tell that she was taking in the moment. And she wanted us to take in the moment with her.
One of the highlights for me was during a monologue to the crowd when she said, “we can all do hard things. Even, or especially, when we don’t feel like or know if we can.” I told you before the show started, that it took every ounce of energy from me to come to the show because as with all of us, life and the voice(s) in our minds has this way of convincing us that we don’t have time to do things for ourselves. We gotta focus on the adulting. But adulting is difficult! And if we’re going to have any hope to be the versions of ourselves that can do hard things - meaningful things - we have to sustain ourselves with the things we love doing.
For me, perspectives like this from Nubya are what create the ability to form connections with the music and its themes that go beyond how good or bad something sounds. It speaks to the creative spirit that lives in anyone that is willing to tap into it. So we can express ourselves in ways that bring us joy and resist the lies our society incentivizes and we end up internalizing.
Last thing I’ll say - she also spoke about writing music for like 12 string parts on the album. And that song did not even include her I don’t think. I’m reminded of this passage I read in what feels like my bible now lol — Black Liturgies — where Cole Arthur Riley says that “writing can relay your inner world in the way you need to on that particular day.” Nubya bringing us into her writing/creative process made the music feel special in that way too. Performing songs created from her inner world and sharing it with people she never met across the world. But she is willing to share those parts of herself with us. And makes me what to do the same.
My favorite song may have been Triumphance — the song message ties into the album’s themes well and speaks to what it means to do hard things along your life’s journey. And it felt like an ode to place (UK/London) with its reggae bounce.
I went on for a bit there. Words and reading may be a lost art in our world but I have faith in the 808s reading audience lol. But how did the show land with you? This is another show where you took photos and were able to experience from multiple vantage points. Anything unique about Nubya’s live show that stood out for you?
Stanley: I love the connection to Riley's work. But this was actually one of my favorite moments, too. Water's Path is the song I've returned to the most since the show. To see how she re-configured the composition was really exciting, inspiring even.
I appreciated the monologues, too. In one of her earlier addresses to the audience, she mentioned how she and her band had been touring across "Europe...and the UK" — which was a sort of tongue-in-cheek comment/joke about Brexit and whiteness and so much more. The joke didn't land well — because it's the US and we don't really do non-US things here lol — but I thought it was a quippy piece of commentary on this moment. Later in the night, when she was giving sort of closing remarks — she talked about how our differences make us strong. In thinking about the US and the UK, human difference has been used to legitimize some of the worst atrocities in history, atrocities that are on-going today. All of this is present in her music, too.
Musically, I thought her quartet — Max Luthert (bass), Lyle Burton (keys), and Sam Jones (drums) — was incredibly strong and tight. In particular, their performance of Solstice really did it for me. It's a tune that starts off with this mid-tempo bass line and the saxophone carrying the melody. But, when the drums are introduced, they're playing in double time, so what once felt like a very "calm" and slow tune, is really a ball of fire. All the while, the keys are doing a series of reharms, moving chromatically at times, playing around the melody. Sam Jones took a drum solo on Solstice I'm still trying to wrap my head around.
