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Samara Joy's confident elegance and clear emotional investment engages Saratoga Jazz Festival crowd / Nippertown

Posted: June 27, 2023

With a voice as smooth as velvet, SAMARA JOY’s star seems to rise with each performance. Following her winning the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, she is currently recording her debut recording, which will feature Samara backed by the Pasquale Grasso Trio.

Growing up in New York, music was a pervasive presence, due to the inspiration of her paternal grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, who led the well-known Philadelphia-based gospel group, The Savettes. Her father toured with the renowned Gospel artist Andrae Crouch, and her home was filled with the sounds of not only her father’s songs and songwriting process, but the inspiration of many Gospel and R&B artists, including Stevie Wonder, Lalah Hathaway, George Duke, Musiq Soulchild, Kim Burrell, Commissioned, and many others.

“Although I didn’t grow up singing in church,” explains Samara, “I constantly heard my family singing inspirational music together, which instilled in me an appreciation for my musical lineage. Through musicals in middle school, I loved exploring the range of my voice and applying the different colors to fit the characters I played. Finally, during high school, I joined the choir at my church, eventually becoming a worship leader, singing three services a week for nearly two years. That was my training.”

Joy's current release: ‘Linger Awhile (Deluxe Edition)’. is an expanded version of her GRAMMY-winning album Linger Awhile featuring never-before-heard b-sides and alternate arrangements, and Linger Awhile Longer, a D2C Exclusive LP with bonus material. Both editions include brand new music plus fan-favorites like “Guess Who I Saw Today” and “Can’t Get Out Of This Mood,” which Samara performed at the GRAMMY Premiere Ceremony earlier this year before taking home awards for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album. While reinvigorating beloved songs and standards for a fresh audience with her timeless, irresistible sound, the 23-year-old is quickly making the case to join the likes of Sarah, Ella, and Billie as the next mononymous singing sensation recorded by the venerable Verve Records. 
 
Since Samara’s GRAMMY wins, Linger Awhile has reached #1 on Amazon Best Sellers, Billboard Jazz, Pandora Trendsetters, iTunes and Amazon’s digital-music and CD-sales, and more. Samara has garnered over 2 billion views on TikTok, and her tour dates all over the world are selling out, including highly-anticipated headline shows at NYC’s Village Vanguard that kicked off this week. Simultaneously, outlets like Vulture are declaring “jazz is back, baby” and notable artists like Sam Smith (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpifz6rIvEk/?hl=en) are calling her “my favourite female voice right now.” Jimmy Fallon said “unbelievable… she is my jam!” before Samara’s late night TV debut performance on The Tonight Show. Other recent TV appearances include the TODAY Show, MSNBC, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Drew Barrymore.


Nippertown's Michael Hochanadel writes…..No umbrellas, no problem.

Sunday’s second half of the 46th Freihofers Saratoga Jazz Festival felt as warm-summery as Saturday felt cool-swampy, when fans dodged puddles deep enough to swim across. No, no, I’m goofing, and with relief.

A giant, star-buzzed crowd greeted singer Samara Joy on the JDS. Many saw her at Albany’s Riverfront Jazz Festival or Universal Preservation Hall, meanwhile she won two Grammys for “Linger A While.”

Her confident elegance and clear emotional investment even in obscure songs generations older than she is engaged immediately. She kept the crowd in her pocket from the fun hesitation bop of her opener, Sam Jones’s “If You Never Fall in Love With Me.” When a breathtaking vocal swoop brought an awed audience whoop, Joy gave a warm glance in response, and the set felt highly interactive. Some of that flowed from her enjoyment in her trio: pianist Luther Allison, drummer Evan Sherman and bassist Mike Migliore.

After a brilliant “Stardust,” I headed back to the main for Hiromi, consoling myself that I’d seen Joy in Albany and Aldana at A Place for Jazz.

Joy erupted on the main stage where Hiromi introduced her new band sonicwonder and tunes from an album due in October.

Photo by Rudy Lu

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