![]() Unlike late 20th-century platinum torchbearers Harry Connick Jr. Which is remarkable, given that Samara Joy sings jazz and songbook standards in a straight-ahead style that was last broadly popular in the 1950s and early '60s. As Lara Downes recently put it on the NPR series Amplify: "All of a sudden, Samara Joy was everywhere." It's no wonder that, in order to spend the holidays with family, her best option was to bring them onstage.Īwards-season campaigning is more of an Oscars thing, but Joy's cheerful ubiquity, and the unforced glow of her ability, have conspired to make her perhaps the closest thing to a frontrunner in this year's best new artist race. When Big Band Holidays returned to New York for several nights at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joy kicked into multitask mode, dropping her seasonal singles, engaging in a blizzard of promotional activity, and performing on The Kelly Clarkson Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. So after a concert in York, Pa., she got on a bus, making it to MetLife stadium in time to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" for 80,000 NFL fans - and then hustled back to the tour. In early December, she was on the road for Big Band Holidays, an annual tradition of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, when she got an invitation to sing the national anthem at a New York Giants game. What has come since for Joy is a high-wire act, a teetering balance of prior obligations and new opportunities. Arriving at Penn Station, she was greeted by her sister, who filmed her uncorked reaction to the nominations a jubilant clip on Joy's TikTok has, at last count, racked up almost 4 million views. to New York when she got the news - "but I had to keep quiet, 'cause I was in the quiet car," she later said, on The Jennifer Hudson Show. One month earlier, several days after Joy celebrated her 23rd birthday, she'd been named a nominee in two categories at the 65th Grammy Awards: best jazz vocal album, for her strong sophomore effort on Verve, Linger Awhile and more surprisingly, best new artist, alongside the likes of Atlanta rapper Latto, Latin pop singer Anitta and Nashville troubadour Molly Tuttle. The turn in that moment was a reminder that for all her persuasive ease as an ingénue, she's acutely aware of her charisma, and how to wield control. It was only later in the song, when she sang "a night di- vine" - punching up the last syllable to a climactic E-flat, which she held for six long seconds before the vocal equivalent of a barrel roll - that Joy showed any sign of exertion, or the glittery star power she'd accrued. Joy took a deep breath and started into the hymn, her voice centered in a contralto register, exuding understated warmth and composure. ![]() Joy was at Ardmore Music Hall just outside of Philadelphia, preparing to sing "O Holy Night," which she'd released as a holiday single with The McLendon Family - her family, who was with her onstage. Samara Joy stood gently swaying, within a rare circle of calm late last year, as a Hammond organ purred in sanctified accord. While attending Fordham High School for the Arts in New York, the Bronx native performed regularly with the jazz band and won Best Vocalist at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition.įor more information on winners of the 2023 Grammy Awards, click here.A few years after winning a prestigious jazz vocal competition while still a college student, 23-year-old Samara Joy is now a multiple Grammy nominee for her album Linger Awhile. ![]() So to be here by just being myself, by just being who I was born as, I’m so thankful.”Ī 2021 graduate of Purchase College, Joy won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition (using her last name, McLendon) in 2019, while she was still a student. … You express yourselves for exactly who you are, authentically. Thank you to everyone who has listened to me and supported me. “I’ve been watching y’all on TV for so long,” Joy said to fans and fellow artists during her acceptance speech. Joy performed “Can’t Get Out Of This Mood” at the Grammys Premiere Ceremony, held during the afternoon on Feb. Linger Awhile finds Joy updating beloved songs with a modern twist, sometimes singing original lyrics using the melodies of famous instrumental solos, a style known as vocalese. The deeply emotive singer also won Best New Jazz Vocal Album for her critically acclaimed 2022 recording Linger Awhile (Verve), featuring guitarist Pasquale Grasso, pianist Ben paterson, bassist David Wong and drummer Kenny Washington. Jazz vocalist Samara Joy was crowned Best New Artist during this year’s Grammy Awards on Feb. Samara Joy gives her acceptance speech at the Grammys on Feb. ![]()
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