In jazz, every generation has a few "old souls" who skip the line to join the pantheon of greats--young artists who burst on the scene seemingly out of nowhere, fully formed. Fresh out of music school but with a deep history in gospel music, the wildly talented vocalist Samara Joy is just such a figure. Joy won Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards for her debut release, an old-school affair that explores classic tunes associated with Carmen McRae, Nat King Cole, and Billie Holiday, and followed it with a third Grammy, for Best Jazz Performance in 2024. "Listening to Samara Joy, I'm struck by the sound of her voice--warm, grounded and sturdy, an impression reinforced by her sure sense of pitch... Her understated, swingy rhythm can feel lighter than air" (NPR).
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Born and raised in the Bronx, rising star Samara Joy's velvety, smooth voice puts her own enchanting interpretation on jazz standards from the Great American Songbook. After winning the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition at the age of 19, she released her debut album Samara Joy. As one of America's most promising young vocalists, she has already performed in many of the great jazz venues in New York, including Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, The Blue Note, and the Apollo.
In jazz, every generation has a few "old souls" who skip the line to join the pantheon of greats--young artists who burst on the scene seemingly out of nowhere, fully formed. Fresh out of music school but with a deep history in gospel music, the wildly talented vocalist Samara Joy is just such a figure. Joy won Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards for her debut release, an old-school affair that explores classic tunes associated with Carmen McRae, Nat King Cole, and Billie Holiday, and followed it with a third Grammy, for Best Jazz Performance in 2024. "Listening to Samara Joy, I'm struck by the sound of her voice--warm, grounded and sturdy, an impression reinforced by her sure sense of pitch... Her understated, swingy rhythm can feel lighter than air" (NPR).
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Born and raised in the Bronx, rising star Samara Joy's velvety, smooth voice puts her own enchanting interpretation on jazz standards from the Great American Songbook. After winning the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition at the age of 19, she released her debut album Samara Joy. As one of America's most promising young vocalists, she has already performed in many of the great jazz venues in New York, including Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, The Blue Note, and the Apollo.
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