Nubya Garcia: Tiny Desk Concert

Nubya Garcia: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Nikki Birch | April 9, 2025

Nubya Garcia smiles as she lights her bespoke incense. Named for Odyssey, her 2024 album, the scent is meant to give the same multisensory experience that she enjoys while listening to or creating music. As the fragrance fills the NPR Music office, her powerful, yet delicate compositions take us on a tranquil journey.

Garcia's deeply rich tenor saxophone graces swelling strings and hypnotic grooves throughout this Tiny Desk. "Dawn" sets the stage and "Solstice" turns up the tempo, then the band crests the wave into "Clarity" and the album's title track. Garcia's been compared to John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, but her eloquent melodies, reggae and dub rhythms, and commanding tone keep the course, propelling the passage forward.

This performance concludes with "Triumphance," which features the first lyrics Garcia ever penned. Delivered with a gentle, but insistent strength, she encourages us: "Your difference is your power / Our differences can be our collective power."

SET LIST

"Dawn"

"Solstice"

"Clarity"

"Odyssey"

"Triumphance"

MUSICIANS

Nubya Garcia: tenor saxophone, vocals

Sam Jones: drums

Max Luthert: upright bass

Lyle Barton: keys

Amyr Joyner: 1st violin

Margret Radovani: 2nd violin

Kyung LeBlanc: viola

Maxfield Wollam-Fisher: cello

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Nikki Birch

Director/Editor: Maia Stern

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame

Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai

Production Assistant: Dora Levite

Photographer: Alanté Serene

Tiny Desk Team: Lars Gotrich, Ashley Pointer

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson

VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#nprmusic #tinydesk #nubyagarcia