Samara Joy

Samara Joy is an American jazz singer, born in the Bronx, who comes to Madrid to present songs from her album Portrait and revisit classics of the traditional repertoire.

The New York singer Samara Joy, active since 2019, first developed her voice singing gospel in church and discovered classic jazz during her teenage years. That same year she won the Sarah Vaughan International Competition and graduated from SUNY Purchase university. Her style of singing is compared to that of Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and Betty Carter, for her refined technique and velvety timbre.

Her first self-titled album was released in 2021 on Verve Records, and Linger Awhile (2022) earned her several Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. Her interpretations of standards have had great resonance on social media, and she has performed at the Village Vanguard, the Apollo Theater and Carnegie Hall, venues that connect her to vocal jazz of the mid-twentieth century.

At the Teatro Monumental, a venue that hosts mainly classical music concerts, she will present the compositions of Portrait (2024), recorded at the historic Van Gelder Studios, alongside great classics of the traditional repertoire. The concert is part of the Villanos de Jazz series and of JAZZMADRID, the Madrid International Jazz Festival.