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Samara Joy - Portrait featured in NEW UNIVERSITY - Tuesday Tunes

Posted: October 22, 2024

NEW UNIVERSITY writes…Samara Joy meshes classic and modern in her third studio album, “Portrait,” released on Oct. 11.  As the artist explores core jazz standards, she introduces a new era for herself with her own original lyrics.

Winning her first Grammy for Best New Artist in 2023 and her third for Best Jazz Performance in 2024 for her performance of “Tight,” Samara Joy has become one of the most notable jazz artists of the decade. Through the release of the single “You Stepped Out Of A Dream,” Joy announced her third album, “Portrait,” an eight-piece collection of Joy’s renditions of multiple jazz standards.

Unlike the version of “You Stepped Out of a Dream”, popularized by the 1941 musical film “Ziegfeld Girl” and originally composed by Nacio Herb Brown, Joy makes the song her own using an arrangement from Jason Charos, scatting along with trombonist Donavan Austin and trumpeter Charos. She steps back and opens up a space for instrument solos as well, a beautiful piano solo by Connor Rohrer being an integral part of Joy’s rendition.

The album then features “Reincarnation Of A Lovebird,” composed by Charles Mingus, who wrote the piece for Charlie “Bird” Parker. Mingus isn’t unfamiliar to UCI; just last year, UCI’s very own jazz orchestra played a spectacular rendition of Mingus’ Ecclusiastics during their spring quarter concert. Joy gives the same justice to the jazz giant. While Mingus’ original recording of “Reincarnation of a Lovebird” is fully instrumental, saxophonist Kendric McCallister’s arrangement for Joy allows her to continue her foray into lyric writing. Her rendition begins only with her voice — a stark distinction from Mingus’ instrumental — until her smooth vocals are joined by the rest of her band around a third of the way through the song.

In a video posted on her social media, Joy speaks about her love for “Autumn Nocturne,” the next song of the album. Joy shares that it is “a story about what it feels like when this certain time of year comes around, and everything around you reminds you of that one special person.” While the original piece was mainly a saxophone-led melody from Lou Donaldson, Joy makes the song her own with lyrics from Kim Gannon and an arrangement by McCallister. The piece comes at a perfect time, with autumn fully underway and lyrics recalling a golden October.

The next song of the album, “Peace Of Mind / Dreams Come True,” combines two pieces: “Peace of Mind,” a Samara Joy original, and “Dreams Come True” from the iconic Sun Ra. “Peace of Mind” features poignant lyrics on hope and serenity, with a dramatic and powerful instrumentation. Ra, a legendary jazz artist known as a pioneer of Afrofuturism, featured keyboards in his original version of “Dreams Come True.” In Joy’s version, her singing is joined by piano, trombone, trumpet, alto saxophone and drum, turning the mellow original into a swinging upbeat sound.

Of the four songs left on the album, “No More Blues” stands out the most. Joy chooses not the usual jazz standard to make her own here, instead singing an English rendition of the popular bossa nova piece “Chega De Saudade,” arranged by Charos. Antônio Carlos Brasileiro, who composed one of the most widely recognized bossa nova pieces “Garota De Ipanema,” or “Girl from Ipanema,” is seen as one of the creators of bossa nova, with “Chega de Saudade” believed to be the “starting point of bossa nova.” While bossa nova is often viewed as relaxing elevator music, Joy once again takes a more upbeat approach to the piece, creating a fun contrast of belting and whispering at different points of the piece.

The album features three other songs, including a beautiful original from Austin titled “A Fool In Love (Is Called A Clown).” Another is a longing tribute to jazz pianist Barry Harris who passed away in 2021, where Joy sings his composition “Now and Then,” now titled “Now And Then (In Remembrance Of…),” arranged by McCallister. Her album ends on a happy note with “Day By Day,” composed by Axel Stordahl and arranged by saxophonist David Mason, which begins with an exciting drumbeat and features more of Joy’s impressive belting.

Listeners get to see a whole new side of Joy with “Portrait”: not just as the amazing singer she is, but also her as a lyricist. I’m interested in seeing if Joy might have a hand at songwriting as well, and how her lyrics will change as she continues to mature as a jazz artist. After hearing Joy’s impressive rendition of “No More Blues”, I hope she will continue to experiment not only with her usual jazz standards, but with more bossa nova tunes in the future. Joy continues to promote her album as she prepares for performances throughout the rest of the year.

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