New album "Portrait"

Samara Joy: The new queen in the young jazz sky

24 years young and on her way to the absolute top of the world: Samara Joy consolidates the hype surrounding her with the new album "Portrait".

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Verve, Gus Black)

At first she sang gospel, then she listened to R&B and a little later she tried her hand at jazz - almost seven years later, Bronx-born Samara Joy has three Grammys on her shelf, a Billboard number one album and plays to sold-out concert halls. Her third album "Portrait" is being released these days. We spoke to the 24-year-old about the magic of jazz, change and how to free yourself from pressure.

To talk of a career rocket launch would be a criminal understatement. At just under 25, Samara Joy is not only the hottest thing in the young jazz sky, she has grown into an absolute superstar virtually overnight. With her debut album "Samara Joy", released in 2021, she was named "Best New Artist" by the renowned "JazzTimes". The follow-up album "Linger Awhile", which was quickly followed up in 2022, finally propelled Joy into orbit. Number one in the Billboard Jazz Charts and a total of three Grammys followed. One for "Best Jazz Vocal Album", one for "Best Jazz Performance" with the single "Tight" and one, the most important of all, for "Best New Artist". The award winners in this category include The Beatles, Tom Jones, Tracy Chapman, Mariah Carey, Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, Adele and Billie Eilish.

Servant of passion
There is no sign of the immense pressure this brings from the music industry for the 24-year-old. When asked about the Grammys, she mainly remembers the parties. "They're really tough," she laughs in the "Krone" interview, "but of course it's exciting to win these awards." The long wait for the first post-Grammy album is coming to an end these days. She recorded her third album "Portrait" as an octet, leaving all the reins in her own hands. Joy herself not only shines with her octave-rich voice, she also acts as songwriter, arranger, bandleader and co-producer on the new work and was even actively involved in the album artwork. A multi-talented artist who is less of a control freak and more obsessed with passion. "The longer I make music, the clearer it becomes where I want to go. When I was first on tour, I was kind of singing after the band, but now the band is the center of my musical vision and we are a real unit."

Samara Joy's global popularity is impressive in that jazz singing was never part of the singer's personal business plan. She only discovered jazz late in high school, at the age of 17. Thanks to her groundbreaking voice, training, vocal honing and international success went almost hand in hand. "I was interested in many genres when I was growing up and hadn't listened to jazz at all before. That benefits me today, because if I had focused on it so much from a young age, I would feel a lot more pressure now. But when I immersed myself in the world of jazz almost seven years ago, this music never let go of me." Joy discovered greats such as Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, but above all strong women such as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae and the largely unknown soprano Jeanine De Bique from Trinidad & Tobago. "She is unique, she can simply sing anything."

Combining the elements
Experts and fellow musicians attest to something similar for Joy, who is not letting the advance praise, the sold-out concert halls, the Grammys and the high sales figures put her off her stride. "I want to be able to sing the songs of the greats, but I also want to realize myself. It doesn't feel like I have to choose 'either or'. Why not incorporate R&B, bebop or swing if a song calls for it or allows it? At best, all the elements I combine lead to my sound. I soak up all the influences and experiences and mix them in such a way that my note emerges." Jazz purists need to be strong, because Samara Joy does not want to tread any more well-trodden paths. Neither her own nor those of her idols. The fact that a pop superstar like Beyoncé has released a country album, for example, also encourages Joy in what she is doing.

"I'm only at the very beginning and everything is moving so fast. There are still so many opportunities to start collaborations with other artists or try out new things. For example, I would love to work with Kendrick Lamar. I also want to try my hand at R&B, Motown, soul and pop. See where my voice can go and what I can pair it with. I want to sing jazz standards with my own lyrics and I want to develop in all areas. I can also well imagine recording an album in the style of D'Angelo one day. Maybe in five or ten years I'll see where my path has taken me." Last but not least, the beauty and versatility of her new album "Portrait" impressively demonstrates that you have to expect the unexpected with Joy, but will always be ensnared by the highest quality. Modern jazz is rewritten not only by Joy's voice, but also by her unbridled self-confidence and love of playful experimentation.

Immersing herself in breadth and depth
She is well aware that Samara Joy is a Gen-Z superstar in a timeless musical genre. This makes it all the more important for her to use music to convey a certain sustainability that goes far beyond the hype that has involuntarily arisen. "It's nice to see that more young people are discovering jazz through my music and perhaps starting to sing or make music themselves, but I don't see myself as a young ambassador," she makes it very clear, "like many other people, I fell in love with acoustic and quiet music. I recognized its beauty and let myself fall into it. There is an incredible breadth and depth in jazz. You can never fully explore it and never complete it. I love the power of performance and melody and I want to pass that on". With "Portrait", the next step has been confidently taken.