Fall Arts Preview |
New Incarnation of a Songbird
Multi-Grammy-Winning Jazz Vocalist
and True Sensation Samara Joy Returns
By Josef Woodard | September 25, 2025
Read more of the 2025 Fall Arts Preview.
Treasured jazz singer Samara Joy’s trajectory into the public ear and limelight began gently but quickly exploded. A few years ago, Joy was winning high praises from critics and listeners within the jazz world as a bold, warm, and sophisticated new voice — steeped in tradition but eager to extend upward and outward. But a much broader public caught wind of her wondrous gift, when, in 2023, she was a surprise winner of the coveted Best New Artist Grammy along with the Best Jazz Vocal Album award for her album Linger Awhile.
Suddenly, Joy’s star rose dramatically, and widely, beyond the jazz world enclave. Three more Grammys were lavished on her in the past two years. Her latest album is last year’s Portrait (listen here), a fine place to start taking in the complexities and suppleness of her voice, in the specific and larger sense.
Did I mention that she’s all of 25? Clearly, aside from the culled glitter and career-enhancing power of her award collection, Joy is an old soul in a young body, with virtuosic and expressive talents to spare.
Santa Barbara caught Joy in holiday garb for her local debut at The Granada Theatre two years back, with members of her musical family in tow. She returns to help kick off the UCSB Arts & Lectures season on October 2 at the Granada. I recently checked in with the ebullient and innately musical soul for an interview.
You are now a world traveler many times over, and cities must blend together, but do you have any particular connection or memory of Santa Barbara? I remember sitting along the beach with my family, wishing we all could stay longer. Christmas in California is the best. I hope to explore a bit more this time around.
I’ve been thrilled to watch your meteoric rise in several concerts. Has your whirlwind story so far been a bit dizzying, or have you learned to stay grounded through it all? A bit of both. It’s crazy to think how much has changed in my life in such a short time. However, I feel more grounded than ever because, through it all, the focus has always been the music. Rather, making sure the quality of it is always consistent. I always want to focus on further developing my sound and growing as time goes by, rather than being busy but stagnant.
You were raised in a highly musical household, correct? Was it a natural life path for you to head into music? I’d say so. Being nurtured in a musical environment, it felt like my ear was being shaped and my voice was adapting to everything I heard. The voices of my family, as well as the voices of artists I listened to, allowed me to explore the many ways one could express themselves in song.
You have really celebrated the jazz vocal art with due respect for its history, from Sarah and Ella to groundbreaking outliers like Betty Carter. Do you feel you’ve taken specific inspiration from artists such as those and others I haven’t mentioned? Absolutely. All the artists mentioned, as well as Abbey Lincoln and Carmen McRae, allowed me to hear the possibilities that come with being a vocalist. Being able to improvise on a melody, utilize dynamics, and even change the color of my voice were things I hadn’t consciously noticed or practiced until then. My new goal was to become a complete musician.
In the handful of times I’ve heard you, you have had certain showpieces as highlights, but I also love your ambitious embrace of rarities. Are you always trying to find a balance of material in your projects to please the crowd as well as your sense of musical challenge? Yes. Integrating new material is an absolute must, for myself as well as the members of the band. Keeping a steady flow of new songs/arrangements as well as playing familiar songs keeps us all fresh.
One of the positive effects of your several Grammy wins and high public profile is that I believe you are helping put “real” jazz more boldly in the public ear. Is that a gratifying side effect of what your music life is about? Music with substance and thought — that’s what I want to champion and platform as an artist. I’m grateful that the pool of listeners is steadily growing, whether they have a general understanding of jazz or not. The fact that my peers and audience have shown so much love and support to my music gives me the motivation to keep going in this direction of integrity, growth, and creativity.
You must be logged in to post a comment.