Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Samara Joy kicks off 2024 Savannah Music Festival

Music festivals are always a wonderful way to catch talented rising stars before they launch into the stratosphere. Some lucky Savannah Music Festival concertgoers got to see jazz singing phenom Samara Joy perform at the 2022 festival, shortly before her debut album Linger Awhile went on to win two 2023 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album. The 24-year-old singer has since amassed legions of fans amongst old school jazz aficionados and Gen-Z Tik Tok followers alike.

Now Joy is following a 2024 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance with a sold-out festival kick-off event at this year’s Savannah Music Festival.

Female jazz vocals and bygone-era standards are having a welcome resurgence, especially among young people on social media, thanks to new artists like Joy and Icelandic singer Laufey. Joy has a timeless velvety alto singing voice that calls back to the era of legendary female jazz vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Billie Holiday.

“I think maybe people connect with the fact that I’m not faking it, that I already feel embedded in it,” Joy said in her official bio. “Maybe I’m able to reach people in person and on social media because it’s real.”

Samara Joy McLendon is from the Bronx in New York City. Although she comes from a musical family (her grandparents led the Philly-based gospel quartet, The Savettes, and her father, bassist and producer Antonio Charles McLendon, toured with Andre Crouch and the Disciples) Joy took to jazz singing late, eventually singing at church and with the Fordham High School for the Arts jazz band. After winning Best Vocalist at JALC’s Essentially Ellington competition, Joy enrolled in SUNY Purchase’s jazz studies program where she developed her voice and love for jazz music. In 2019, Joy won the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition and earned a scholarship to the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation where she earned degrees in jazz composition and arrangement.

After raising money on a GoFundMe campaign, Joy recorded her self-titled debut album for London label Whirlwind Recordings. The album was produced by Matt Pierson and featured guitarist Pasquale Grasso’s trio, drummer Kenny Washington, and bassist Ari Roland. Composed entirely of standards, Joy’s debut won global acclaim and earned her spots at Manhattan jazz clubs and the Newport Jazz Festival.

In 2022, Joy signed to the esteemed Verve jazz label, where she released her Grammy award-winning album. In 2023, Joy released a holiday themed album, Joyful Holiday, a deluxe version of Linger Awhile, and a non-album single, “Tight,” which earned Joy another Grammy in 2024,cementing her place in the jazz world and laying a foundation for her continued upward trajectory.

Although Samara Joy’s Savannah Music Festival performance is already sold-out, her presence on the festival line-up is indicative of the incredibly diverse and top-tier talent that appears at the festival every year. Many of the other artists performing at this year’s Savannah Music Festival could be the next break out sensation, so be sure to check out some of the performances, even if you miss out on opening night.

Samara Joy’s March 23 concert will be preceded by the Spring Fling, a benefit for Savannah Music Festival held at the Metal Building at Trustees Garden. The benefit will feature food by chef Nick Mueller, live auctions, and trolleys to Trustees Theatre for the Samara Joy concert. The party is inspired by the cover of Samara Joy’s Linger Awhile album cover, so attendees are encouraged to dress in their finest cocktail attire.

If You Go >>

What: Savannah Music Festival: Samara Joy

When: 8:30 p.m., March 23

Where: Lucas Theatre for the Arts, 32 Abercorn St.

Cost: sold out

Info: savannahmusicfestival.org

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Jazz singer Samara Joy inspires Savannah Music Festival Spring Fling fundraiser