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Lyric Contralto Jazz artist Samara Joy (McLendon) was born on November 11, 1999, and raised in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, New York, by her parents, Antonio McLendon, a rhythm-and-blues artist and bassist, and Ruth McLendon. Her grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon led the Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes. Samara has a younger brother, Zachary McLendon.
At an early age, Samara was introduced to gospel through her musical family and sang selected works of Stevie Wonder. She began singing jazz during her senior year at Fordham High School for the Arts in the Bronx. While there she was awarded Best Vocalist at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition and later graduated as a valedictorian of her class in 2017.
Afterward Joy enrolled in the State University of New York at Purchase. She attended the Conservatory of Music Jazz Studies program and was a member of the Purchase College Songbook Ensemble. She became the school’s Ella Fitzgerald Scholar and won the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, one of the most sought-after honors for a rising jazz performer. Joy graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2021 and performed the American National Anthem during the University’s Commencement Exercise. That same year she released her self-titled debut album, Samara Joy on Whirlwind Recordings and later in 2021 she produced her second album, Linger Awhile, on Verve Records. She then began touring the United States.
In 2022, Joy performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, appeared on the Today show, was featured at Carnegie Hall’s 16th Annual Notable Occasion, and debuted at the Raising Cane’s River Center Theatre for Performing Arts in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
In February 2023, Samara’s exceptional talent was recognized on a global scale when she took home two Grammy Awards for her album Linger Awhile. Winning the prestigious awards for ‘Best Jazz Vocal Album’ and ‘Best New Artist’ was a significant milestone in her career. She later won the NAACP Image Awards for ‘Outstanding Jazz Album—Vocal. In 2024, at the 66th Grammy Awards, Joy took home the “Best Jazz Performance” award for her song, “Tight.”
Joy has written lyrics to selected standards of numerous songs, including the legendary jazz upright bassist-composer Charles Mingus’s “Reincarnation of a Lovebird.” Her lyrical contributions, in natural harmony with the composition, thus adding horns and a drum, bass, guitar, and keyboards to create that big orchestra sound, add a personal touch to these timeless pieces, further showcasing her creativity and versatility in the music industry.
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Corinna Chin, “Tuesday Tunes: Samara Joy’s ‘Portrait’,” https://newuniversity.org/2024/10/22/tuesday-tunes-samara-joys-portrait/;
Nate Chinen, “Samara Joy’s polyphonic stardom,” https://www.npr.org/2023/02/04/1152837757/samara-joy-grammy-profile:
John Wirt, “The Joy of jazz: Grammy winner Samara Joy makes her Baton Rouge debut this weekend,” https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/music/samara-joy-grammy-winner-manship-theatre-oct-27-concert/article_0f1431b2-8fc8-11ef-bc69-2f6561262e9e.html.
Samara Joy “Guess Who I Saw Today” Jazz 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He_ao7IZwto
