In 2017, Samara Joy auditioned for a jazz studies programme at the State University of New York, despite having limited knowledge about the genre. She had previously won the prestigious vocal award at the Essentially Ellington, a countrywide high school jazz band contest, despite having minimal exposure to iconic jazz singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, or Billie Holiday. As Joy recounted to DownBeat magazine, jazz was an unfamiliar sound to her.
At the age of 16, Joy had landed the role of the lead vocalist in her community church choir in the Bronx, yet had never had formal vocal training, professional musical education or experience in reading a lead sheet, besides basic knowledge of music theory. The only jazz standard she knew was Duke Ellington’s soothing track, ‘I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart’, which she had learnt for the school band competition.
Laughingly, Joy recalls the moment when Pete Malinverni, the conservatory’s head, asked her to sing a hymn following her performance, which initially concerned her. After performing ‘Blessed Assurance’, while Malinverni played the piano, she remembers thinking she had done the best she could considering her current skills and musical understanding, and strived to present herself as a worthy student, capable of significant growth.
She received an offer for a spot in a four-year course a week later, yet she was enveloped with uncertainty. She was aware of her passion for singing, but her musical influences were heavily rooted in gospel, R&B, and soul during her upbringing. Simultaneously, another college extended an offer for a Stem course that promised to yield a stable and tangible career post-graduation. In her contemplations, she could still continue her singing at the church and during her leisure time. This was the critical juncture in her life that made her choose between keeping music as an interest or pursuing it as her full-time profession, and she decided upon the latter.
Her choice proved fruitful. Over the course of the subsequent half a decade, marred by a couple of years due to the Covid pandemic, Samara Joy transitioned from a green jazz student to craft a rapidly growing global singing career. Her Irish premiere at Dublin’s National Concert Hall proceeds this month.
Winning the esteemed Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2019, beating more than 300 participants across 34 nations, was clear evidence of Joy’s talent. Her incredible performance even triggered a round of praise-filled applause mid-song. She quickly started gaining a profound understanding of jazz singing’s core principles and its history whilst at college. Joy seemed to come into the jazz scene as though she was a prodigiously gifted individual with maturity that transcended her youth. Consequently, she was awarded the coveted Ella Fitzgerald memorial scholarship the following year.
In 2022, Joy signed a deal for three records with jazz legend Verve, an eminent label with a roster that includes legends like Nina Simone, Stan Getz, Bill Evans and Ella Fitzgerald herself, who was Verve’s inaugural signing. Samara’s first album for the label, Linger Awhile, landed her two victories at the 2023 Grammys for best jazz vocal album and most notably, the best new artist.
The prestigious best new artist title has been won by renowned artists such as Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo in the last few years. Samara Joy had to fend off competition from British indie rock band Wet Leg and the remarkably talented jazz innovators Domi & JD Beck. The award ceremony’s footage captures a standing ovation from Adele, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift in recognition of her achievement.
Like many renowned female vocalists who go by one name – Ella, Aretha, Whitney, Joni, Mariah, Amy, Patsy, Bessie, Björk – Samara’s distinct musical tone is unmistakable, marking her as someone extraordinary. There’s a multitude of examples across her three releases: her crowdfunded self-titled debut album from 2021, produced by the independent London-based label Whirlwind; her top-selling record Linger Awhile that, in 2023, brought forth an expanded special edition with bonus tracks and alternative versions; and her unexpectedly captivating unsoppy six-song Christmas EP, A Joyful Holiday, launched at the culmination of the previous year.
Her version of the timeless romantic tune Misty delivers an a cappella phrase that best showcases her remarkable talent. Critics have likened her deep, rich, warm contralto voice to the smooth, lush qualities of silk, cream, and aged cognac savoured by a roaring fireplace. The entirety of her ample vocal range is skilfully utilised in an improvised line that lithely ascends the scales, ultimately hitting a high note of raw emotional softness and allure. Instead of belting out lyrics, Joy delicately expresses them, allowing listeners to rediscover a known song.
Joy’s approach is more traditionalist than modernist. Predominantly delivering jazz classics and iconic American Songbook pieces, some even dating back a century, she has proven her adeptness at vocalese, the technique of adding lyrics – occasionally her own – to an initially instrumental solo, a style popular in the 50s and 60s.
While Joy has not ventured excessively into experimental music, particularly when compared to contemporaries like Cécile McLorin Salvant, her passion, spirited youthfulness, light and natural delivery, combined with her self-confident charisma and crystal-clear articulation, instil her music with an intriguing blend of modernity and wide reachability.
Born at the dawn of the millennium on the 11th of November, 1999, Samara Joy McLendon carries the essence of the Castle Hill neighbourhood of the Bronx – a corner of New York famed equally for its contribution to the hip hop culture as for its struggles with urban decay and economic disadvantage. Despite this, she often describes her childhood surroundings as familial, peaceful, and community-oriented.
Reflecting fondly upon her past, Samara insists, “I never felt deprived in my youth. I never really conceived a desire to escape from where I was raised.” Even though she’s taken up residence in Harlem, the echoes of her adolescence still linger in her former bedroom, now her mother’s workspace, in her parents’ abode.
One of five siblings, Samara was brought up in a devout and musical household. Her father, Antonio, is a well-established gospel singer, bassist, composer, and producer who learned his craft from his own parents, distinguished gospel musicians, preachers and founders of the ‘The Savettes’, based in Philadelphia. Antonio, having shared his platform with renowned gospel icon, Andraé Crouch, instilled a potent love for gospel and soul music in Samara, his influence chiefly shaped her musical journey.
Claiming her quiet and somewhat introverted childhood, confirmed by an interview with Ebony magazine, Samara gives credit to music for her solace and sense of belonging. Coming from a family where singing post-dinner and during festive occasions was a common tradition or during weekly church gatherings, Samara embraced singing as an extensions of her self. Their Christian faith became an ingrained part of Samara who reaffirms this saying, “Whatever one’s life’s aim, God’s presence is essential,” to her substantial following of 660,000 on TikTok and 520,000 on Instagram, while reflecting upon her upbringing under the musical guidance of her father and listening to artists like Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross and Chaka Khan, through her mother, Janice, a monitor of clinical trials.
The expanding audience around Samara Joy not only introduces a fresh generation to the ageless jazz repertoire but is also creating a significant need for her skillset. Her performance on the two-minute single ‘Tight’, which earned her another Grammy this year for best jazz performance, has certainly boosted her prominence. Apart from appearing on TV shows and interviews, she is presently on a worldwide tour, delivering performances at progressively larger venues from the Barbican in London to Hollywood Bowl, usually greeted by enthusiastic ovations.
She articulates, suppressing a yawn, that the last few years have been incredibly momentous, and feels like a decade had ensued. She swiftly adds that she is also amidst recording her new album.
In concert at the National Concert Hall (NCH), Joy is accompanied by a dynamic piano trio she hand-selected. The trio adeptly underpin the narrative essence inherent to her examples. While they illuminate how well she personalises these standards, they also exhibit these evergreen compositions of love & loss, relationship struggles, fantasies and enduring peculiarly hopeful due to her youthful age and buoyant nature.
Joy comments on the universality of her music, saying, “My music stories about human emotions, yearning, and loss resonate with everyone in some way or another.” Amidst conversations about her achievements, including being the first Generation Z jazz star, she underlines one crucial lesson her family taught her – that your talents and your life are meant to uplift yourself, for the betterment of others.
Through her music, Joy seeks connectivity among people of distinct ages and backgrounds, fostering a sense of community. She remains motivated to engage people to a cause beyond her identity.
Catch Samara Joy at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Saturday, April 20th.