Nubya Garcia

Odyssey

Concord

‘A majestic feat in which she blends orchestral arrangements with R&B, jazz, broken beat and dub, resulting in a grand, nuanced record that feels airy and celestial without sacrificing the groove. It’s a deeply personal offering about her trek towards falling back in love with musical composition over the past four years.’

‘As well as pulsating modal workouts (The Seer), there’s real melodic beauty, too, from Set It Free (featuring London-based vocalist and trombonist Richie Seivwright) and We Walk In Gold (featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow) to the ethereal beauty of the instrumental Clarity. Garcia also reveals some lovely arranging touches — the way in which the Chineke! strings and guest vocalist Esperanza Spalding introduce album opener Dawn in free time, while the core trio of Joe Armon-Jones, Daniel Casimir and Sam Jones slowly introduce pulse in a gradual fade in; the dramatic strings-only coda appended to the epic title track; the fabulously rich string pizzicati which drive Water’s Path ever onwards; plus strings and sax ascending together in the all-too-brief Clarity (Outerlude)’ (Jazzwise).