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
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
's loping, incantatory solo in the horn's low register;
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
's saxophone asserts with Ethio-jazz inspired motifs. Contrast this with "Waters Path," a lovely classical-crossover composition for chamber strings.
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.
's and
' sonic weave grabs onto
's guiding beats and underscores them with layered saxes, processional piano, and
's deep dread bassline.
adds chorus vocals to the backdrop.
isn't a next step for the artist, but a giant leap into unbridled inspiration, focus, and creativity. Like
before it, this arrives at a captivating juncture in Great Britain's wildly diverse jazz scene, and will no doubt influence it. ~ Thom Jurek