An Exclusive from INSIDE magazine
Listening to jazz vocalist Samara Joy sing, it’s a struggle to equate her voice and her age.
Samara, who turned 26 in November, sings with the authority of someone twice her age – and with twice her experience. Her voice has a depth and richness of tone that ordinarily comes only with years and years of live performances and studio sessions.
And while at least some of her vocal power can be attributed to nature, her phrasing, her confidence when playing with a song’s rhythm and melody, the smoothness of her voice even when navigating a giant melodic leap – that comes through experience and a devotion to her craft.
Maybe that’s why Samara’s latest album, 2024’s Portrait, is her most confident and fully-realized performance captured in the studio so far.
“This album comes after about two years of just straight touring,” Samara told the magazine Clash. “That experience of growing and surrounding myself with people that I felt like I could grow with, and who all came from different musical backgrounds, it’s allowed me to grow into a stronger listener and a stronger singer.”
Born Samara Joy McLendon in the Bronx, she comes from a musical family – her grandparents led a gospel group called The Savettes. Her father, Antonio McLendon, is a bassist and vocalist who toured with gospel giant Andrea Crouch.
Gospel and R&B were constants in her young life, but jazz didn’t enter her consciousness until she attended Fordham High School for the Arts and began singing with its jazz band. After graduation she attended State University of New York at Purchase, entering the jazz program as a voice major.
She won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2019. Veteran jazz bassist Christian McBride called her a “once-in-a-lifetime” and became an occasional collaborator.
Samara Joy, her debut album, was released in July 2021, earning the Jazz Times’ Best New Artist category. The album, on the independent Whirlwind Records, drew the attention of the major labels. Samara signed with venerable jazz imprint Verve and released her warmly-received second album, Linger Awhile, in 2022. The disc won the Grammy® for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2023. Samara picked up another trophy at the ceremony, Best New Artist.
She added to her trophy shelf at this year’s Grammys®, with her third album, Portrait, winning Best Jazz Vocal Album. She followed its 2004 release with live dates which continue into 2026. That suits Samara just fine.
“I prefer performing live” to recording, she said, “because of the exchange of energy and love. I like seeing what kind of emotional arc or emotional storytelling I can give to people.”
Samara Joy will perform in Ferguson Hall on Feb. 14. Click here for tickets.