JAZZ: Nubya Garcia – Nubya’s 5ive

Women have been a part of jazz music since its birth. Yet, female instrumentalists and composers have historically been underrepresented inthe genre. The reasons for this are complex and have been discussed and debatedelsewhere (here and here for example). While male jazz artists stillsignificantly outnumber their female counterparts, the gap is narrowing. Oneneed not look further than Downbeat’s 2019 annual critics poll which rankedtwo female artists—Cecile McLorin Salvant and Mary Halvorson—as the #1 and #2jazz artists in the world, respectively. In that same critics poll, London-basedsaxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia was ranked as the #6 “Rising Star” in jazz.I got turned on to Garcia’s music earlier this year when I was introduced to “LostKingdoms”, the first song on her 2018 debut album, Nubya’s 5ive. This songhas an assertive hook that grabs you from the jump. It’s one of those songswhere, the first time you hear it, you stop and see who this is, because itsounds so compelling and fresh. The song features some great solos from Garciaas well as Shelia Maurice-Grey on Trumpet. Joe Armon-Jones keys lay a gorgeousfoundation in the background. “Hold” is equally terrific. The song opens with TheonCross playing an infectious groove on tuba. This riff carries the entire songover which Garcia and her band mates improvise. The repetition gives the song atrance-like quality. “Red Sun” is a nice little number, though it is far moretraditional than the others, dropping the electric instruments and the tuba forquartet sound.

NEAT: George Dickel no. 12

Like jazz, women have been an integral part of the whiskey industryfor generations. Yet, whiskey still tends to be associated with old, beardedwhite dudes. Much of this is due to the kind of marketing campaigns (and eventhe logos and labels on many whiskey bottles) which perpetuate the myth. Today,women are at the top of some of the most recognizable and influential brands inthe world (here’s a good list for starters). Recently, I stumbled on thisarticle in my local newspaper about Nicole Austin. She grew up about 10 minutesfrom where I live. Today, she’s the general manager and distiller for CascadeHollow Distilling near Tullahoma, Tenn. Her distillery produces George Dickel Whisky(they spell it without the “e”)—the second most popular Tennessee Whiskey aftersome other brand (Jack something-or-other). After reading her profile, which Irecommend reading for yourself, I picked up a bottle. Tennessee Whiskey isn’tsomething I would typically buy, so my expectations were low. I waspleasantly surprised. This stuff is good. The No. 12 variety, which I snared for a cool $25, is aged about 8 years (from what I can find) in new American Oakbarrels. Sharingjust about everything else in common with bourbon, Tennessee whiskey adds one step—filteringthe spirit through sugar maple charcoal prior to aging. The process is intendedto produce a smoother whiskey perfect for “finest quality sippin”, as my bottleof Dickel declares. Dickel no. 12 is heavy on the corn (85% of the mash) whichputs it on the sweeter side of the ledger. Yet, it packs a punch at 90 proofwithout sacrificing drinkability. To be honest, I’m hard pressed to think of abetter whiskey at this price point. Credit to distiller Nicole Austin and herfancy charcoal filtering process. And, cheers, to all the women in the worlds of whiskey and jazz.