Portrait Samara Joy

• 1 You Stepped Out Of A Dream 04:35
• 2 Reincarnation Of A Lovebird 06:28
• 3 Autumn Nocturne 03:47
• 4 Peace Of Mind / Dreams Come True 07:06
• 5 A Fool In Love (Is Called A Clown) 04:48
• 6 No More Blues 05:46
• 7 Now And Then (In Remembrance Of…) 06:28
• 8 Day By Day 04:58
• Total Runtime 43:56

Info for Portrait

Frisch mit dem “Best New Artist”-Grammy 2023 ausgezeichnet, meldet sich die 24-jährige Samara Joy jetzt mit ihrem heiß erwarteten neuen Album zurück. In den letzten Monaten hat die Sängerin mit der Ausnahmestimme zusammen mit ihrer Band unzählige Konzerte rund um den Globus gegeben und den gemeinsamen Swing, Groove und Spirit in neue Höhen getrieben. Um das zu beweisen, nahmen sie im Februar 2024 in den legendären Van Gelder Studios das neue Album “Portrait” auf, eine heißblütige Sammlung aus Standards, Originalen und zwei Jazz-Klassikern von Charles Mingus und Barry Harris, für die Samara Joy exklusive Lyrics verfasste.

„Ich bin noch immer sprachlos“, sagt Samara Joy über ihren Grammy-Gewinn als Beste neue Künstlerin 2023. Wenn die in der Bronx aufgewachsene 24-jährige Sängerin sich an den Moment zurückerinnert, empfindet sie zunächst einmal „nichts als Dankbarkeit“. Nach der Auszeichnung tat Samara genau das Richtige, das was jeder ewig neugierige Jazzmusiker getan hätte: sie machte sich auf den weiteren Weg. Für sie und ihre Band stand eine endlose Reihe ausverkaufter Tourdaten an. Zusammen mit den ebenso jungen, ebenso talentierten Kollegen gab sie Konzerte rund um den Globus und verfeinerte und vertiefte den gemeinsamen Swing, Groove und Spirit. Wer das Glück hatte, das Ensemble live zu erleben, stimmte in den Lobgesang der Medien ein.

Wie perfekt Samara Joy und ihre Band sich aufeinander eingespielt haben und welch musikalische Höhen sie inzwischen erklimmen, zeigt das im Februar 2024 in den legendären Van Gelder Studios aufgenommene neue Album „Portrait“, eine Sammlung von Standards, Originalen und drei Jazz-Instrumentals von Charles Mingus, Sun Ra und Barry Harris, für die Samara exklusive Lyrics verfasste. Das am 10. Oktober erscheinende Album kündigt sie mit dem Song “You Stepped Out Of A Dream” an, einer sommerlich-lateinamerikanisch swingenden Version des bekannten Jazz-Standards. Samara und Band bei der traumwandlerisch sicheren Arbeit im Studio zu beobachten, ist beeindruckend.

"Beeindruckend, wie diese außergewöhnliche Sängerin mit ihrem dunklen Timbre, ihrer großen Eleganz und ihrem natürlichen Selbstbewusstsein die Songs mit neuem Leben erfüllt." (NDR)

Samara Joy, Gesang
Jason Charos, Trompete, Flügelhorn
David Mason, Altsaxophon, Flöte
Kendric McCallister, Tenorsaxophon
Donavan Austin, Posaune
Conor Rohrer, Klavier
Felix Moseholm, Bass
Evan Sherman, Schlagzeug

Aufgenommen im Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, von Maureen Sickler
Produziert von Brian Lynch & Samara Joy

Samara Joy
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.”

Samara’s first exposure to jazz was while attending Fordham High School for the Arts, where she performed regularly with the jazz band, eventually winning Best Vocalist at JALC’s Essentially Ellington competition. However, jazz wasn’t really her focus until the time came to choose a college. Wanting to attend a state school close to home, she picked SUNY Purchase, gaining acceptance into their acclaimed jazz program, with a faculty that includes many jazz masters (including Pasquale Grasso and drummer Kenny Washington, who both appear on her debut recording.)

“My friends were all into jazz and started sharing their favorite recordings with me to check out. The turning point was when I heard both Sarah Vaughan’s version of ‘Lover Man’ and Tadd Dameron’s recordings featuring trumpeter Fats Navarro. I was hooked.”

From this point, she began to pursue her jazz studies with an intense passion, eventually being named the Ella Fitzgerald Scholar and entering and winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

Although having only recently celebrated her 21st birthday, Samara has already performed in many of the great jazz venues in NYC, including Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, The Blue Note, and Mezzrow, in addition to working with jazz greats such as Christian McBride, Pasquale Grasso, Kirk Lightsey, Cyrus Chestnut, and NEA Jazz Master Dr. Barry Harris.

Samara's self-titled debut recording is slated for release on July 9 through Whirlwind Recordings. It presents her backed by the trio of guitarist Pasquale Grasso, bassist Ari Roland, and drummer Kenny Washington. Within the album's liner notes, veteran writer Will Friedwald comments that Samara Joy is “a fantastic collection of highly original new arrangements, beautifully sung by a rising talent, and a very impressive first album. People are forever using the word 'timeless' as if it were the greatest praise ever, but in a way, Samara’s voice and her music seem to belong to all time, like she’s connected to the entire history of jazz all at once - as if she were existing in every era simultaneously, she sounds both classic and contemporary.”

Winning the Vaughan award was transformational for Joy. “I was suddenly on the jazz radar. It’s still bizarre to think of how fast things have progressed.” Since then, Joy has dug deep to discover her jazz roots, without losing sight of the innate simplicity that makes her sound shine. Her first album announces the arrival of a young artist destined for greatness.

This album contains no booklet.