Nubya Garcia Stopped By NPR's Tiny Desk
The saxophonist and her band — accompanied by a string section — played cuts off her recently-released album ‘Odyssey.’
London-born saxophonist Nubya Garcia is currently on a wide-ranging tour of the US, but recently found some time in her schedule to stop by the NPR headquarters for a brand-new installment of the popular Tiny Desk series. Accompanied by her longtime bandmates Sam Jones (drummer) and Lyle Barton (keys) as well as a string section, Garcia ran through choice cuts off her recent album Odyssey, all while a stick of her bespoke incense burned in the background.
Over the near-23 minute performance, Garcia’s band started with “Dawn,” their usual opening track, then upped the tempo with “Solstice” before moving into “Clarity” and the title track, “Odyssey.” For the finale, Garcia chose “Triumphance” — the first track she ever penned lyrics for — and offered a hypnotic mix of spoken-word statements with saxophone grooves.
Though the performance was Garcia’s first time in NPR’s studios, it wasn’t her first appearance on Tiny Desk: she played a set for the Tiny Desk (Home) series during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, swapping out the standard setting for a plant-filled houseboat in London and playing tracks from her album Source.
Watch the performance in full above, head to Garcia’s website for her remaining tour dates, and check out Hypebeast’s recent, expansive interview with Garcia as well.
