SAMARA JOY

Few figures in the history of Jazz have had as a meteoric rise as Samara Joy. Let alone at such a young age. At just 26, her career is already nothing short sensational.

A five-time Grammy winner, including Best New Artist, Joy has become a top-tier presence, with visibility worthy of the biggest pop stars. Her impact has taken her to major television networks and connected her with new generations through platforms such as TikTok. Her track record thus far as a performer speaks for itself: she has featured at legendary festivals such as Newport, Monterey or Montreal, and performed at iconic venues such as the Apollo Theatre, Carnegie Hall, the Village Vanguard or Jazz at Lincoln Center.

A native of the Castle Hill neighbourhood in the Bronx, she grew up surrounded by music. Her grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, led the Philadelphia gospel group, The Savettes. Her father, Antonio McLendon, a musician and composer, toured with Andraé Crouch and recorded his own repertoire. As a child, she fell in love with classic R&B and honed her voice in the gospel choir of her church. She discovered Jazz in her teens at the Fordham High School for the Arts, where she won the Best Vocalist award within the prestigious Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington programme. In 2019, she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. That was a turning point for her, launching her definitively onto the professional scene.

Her debut album, Samara Joy (2021), won over critics with its evocative take on the classic repertoire and extraordinary musical grasp. In 2022, she released Linger Awhile, which further underlined her talent for reinterpreting the most diverse works. That same year, she won the Grammy for Best New Artist, an accolade that further boosted her popularity. At the end of 2023, she released A Joyful Holiday, an EP of Christmas songs that led to successful tours and culminated in two more Grammys in 2025: Best Jazz Vocal Album y Best Jazz Performance.

Samara Joy continued to expand her artistic horizons with Portrait (2024), a work that reflects her growth as a leader and artist. Among her compositions, the moving “Reincarnation of a Lovebird” stands out. It is a dialogue between love and ambition inspired by Charles Mingus. Not to mention new interpretations of standards such as “You Stepped Out of a Dream” and “Autumn Nocturne”.

With each album, each collaboration, each performance, Samara Joy reaffirms her status as a great interpreter of standards and a new Jazz star, evoking the legacy of figures of the calibre of Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln or Carmen McRae.