Belgrave
music Hall, LeedsThe Londoner’s cosmopolitan jazz comes loaded with meaning and emotion, but she also proves to be an engaging raconteur
![Nubya Garcia review – music does the talking in triumphant comeback](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f44305c5346b6d58417ad96bf8ee146b0fb26ceb/359_267_3128_1877/master/3128.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctcmV2aWV3LTQucG5n&enable=upscale&s=31d1d6077bfa9fde778beaf668ef8293)
Iggy Pop said recently that whenever he hears anyone moan that music isn’t as good as it used to be, he points them to Nubya Garcia. His description of her “fantastically advanced music that tugs at the heartstrings” refers to how the 30-year-old Londoner of Guyanese and Trinidadian descent infuses jazz with influences from the African and Caribbean diaspora and uses her tenor saxophone to channel a multitude of feelings and emotions.
Garcia does this so brilliantly that she doesn’t need to sing, but uses a vocal microphone to talk though. “Wow, we made it!” she begins, surveying the audience with the last 18 months in mind. This tour, like so many, was delayed by the pandemic, but the intervening period has seen a Mercury nomination for 2020’s Source and a sellout audience here, making her comeback feel triumphant. Each time she places her instrument to her lips, there is another wave of cheering.