NUBYA GARCIA
Blowing hot and cool The jazz saxophonist who’s channelling UK soundsystem culture for festival crowds and sweaty dancefloors Words LOU BOYD Portrait ADAM JALLOH
When Nubya Garcia played at London’s Village Underground this March, the gig was a sell-out, with a line of punters wrapped all the way around the building and up the street. But the 28-year-old from Camden, north London, isn’t some big-name DJ or well-known indie artist – the usual preserve of this 1,000-capacity venue – she’s a musician who plays jazz, a genre viewed by some to be ‘difficult’ and not easily accessible. And certainly, while her music will get you dancing, Garcia isn’t afraid to spin off in modal and improvisational directions. The tenor saxophonist and composer is a leading light on the UK’s exciting current jazz scene; part of a generation of young artists making music that belongs not in dusty, elitist dinner clubs but on the sweaty dancefloors of latenight party venues. “The backbone of what I listen to is dance music and soundsystem culture,” says Garcia, recently tipped to be the next ‘female Coltrane’ – a reference to saxophonist, composer and jazz icon John Coltrane. “The thing is, people forget that jazz has always been dance music.” Garcia tells The Red Bulletin about how she channels the energy of UK club culture in her live sets, and how it feels to be one of the most exciting new artists in a scene that’s experiencing a rebirth… 34
THE RED BULLETIN: Has playing music always been a big part of your life? NUBYA GARCIA: For as long as I can remember. I began playing the tenor saxophone at the age of 10, but I was reading music by the time I was five. Before the saxophone, it was the piano, violin, viola… It was never my plan to keep on playing music for ever; it just kind of happened. Camden is perhaps best known for its indie-rock scene – was it unusual to be a teenager playing jazz? For sure. I was never an indie kid, but I also wasn’t into chart music or pop. We had loads of old records in the house, but most of my tastes came from my mum’s CDs and from going to gigs. My older siblings were musical, too. We grew up with our own kind of musical energy. There are so many different influences and styles permeating jazz right now, from Afrobeat to grime and bass. How
“You always bring little bits of flavour from what you listen to” THE RED BULLETIN