Samara Joy

With her Verve Records debut, Linger Awhile, 22-year-old Samara Joy makes her case to join the likes of Sarah, Ella and Billie as the next mononymous jazz singing sensation recorded by the venerable label. Her voice, rich and velvety yet precociously refined, has already earned her fans like Anita Baker and Regina King, appearances on the TODAY Show, and millions of likes on TikTok—cementing her status as perhaps the first Gen Z jazz singing star.

While growing up in the Bronx, it was the music of her parent’s childhoods that Joy listened to most. She treasures her musical lineage, which stretches back to her grandparents Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, both of whom performed with Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes, and runs through her father, who is a singer, songwriter and producer who toured with gospel artist Andraé Crouch. Eventually, she did follow in the family tradition, singing in church and then with the jazz band at Fordham High School for the Arts, which led to her enrolling in SUNY Purchase’s jazz studies program. She fell deeply in love with the music and, as a sophomore, entered and won the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Notably, Joy also attended the late, great pianist Barry Harris’s legendary classes, through which he became a particularly important influence and mentor. “You inspired me as well as many others with this fire for teaching and playing that couldn’t be dimmed by anything or anyone,” Joy writes in Linger Awhile’s liner notes.

On Linger Awhile, Joy effortlessly swings alongside esteemed veterans (jazz guitar virtuoso Pasquale Grasso, pianist Ben Paterson, bassist David Wong and master drummer Kenny Washington), presenting understated yet powerful renditions of a varied collection of material. From the chestnuts “Misty” and “Someone to Watch Over Me” to less familiar standards like Ronnell Bright’s “Sweet Pumpkin” and the Sarah Vaughan specialty “Can’t Get Out of This Mood,” the project showcases the vocalist tackling a stunningly wide variety of styles and moods. Her emotional depth is further on display with a spine-tingling version of “Guess Who I Saw Today,” originally popularized by Nancy Wilson.

Showing her deep knowledge and reverence for the jazz tradition, she takes on Thelonious Monk iconic “‘Round Midnight,” although rather than the most commonly performed lyrics, she sings those written by vocalese master Jon Hendricks, which she discovered on a rare TV performance by Carmen McRae. Speaking of Hendricks, his classic collaboration with Gigi Gryce, “Social Call” is also included. And picking up where he left off, Joy penned her own lyrics to classic jazz material with her takes on Fats Navarro’s “Nostalgia (The Day I Knew)” and “I’m Confessin’,” where she wrote a deeply moving lyric set to Lester Young’s legendary 1952 solo.

The release of Linger Awhile is just one more step for the ascendant vocalist, who will spend the next year touring increasingly large stages, collaborating with masters like the Clayton-Hamilton Big Band, Christian McBride, Kenny Barron and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and continuing to expose a new generation to the timeless art form, jazz. As Joy herself says, “So this is only the beginning…there is much, much more to come.”