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| Vocalist Samara Joy |
JazzTimes
magazine scribe Veronica M. Johnson turned me on to the jazz vocalist Samara
Joy, noting she's the embodiment of Ella Fitzgerald. That's an
attention-grabbing declaration. At 22, Joy is building quite a name for herself,
having won the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, the Jazz
at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Competition, and dropped her
self-titled debut in July. Lately, the Brooklyn native has toured nationally with
guitarist Pasquale Grasso's trio. After hearing Joy with the trio Sunday night
at Cliff Bell's in downtown Detroit, I must second Johnson's declaration. The Fitzgerald
likeness slapped me in the back of the head when Joy performed duets with bassist
Ari Roland and Keith Balla, the core of Grasso's trio. Listening to the duets'
intimacy reminded me of Ella and Oscar,
Fitzgerald's 1976 collaboration with pianist Oscar Peterson. It was Joy's inaugural
performance in Detroit. The set seemed unnecessarily long, but she had the near-capacity
audience enthralled for the entire journey. She possesses an abundance of stage
presence and a veteran performer's understanding of building camaraderie with
an audience. She literally had the guy seated behind me so worked up. He was
cheering and carrying on as if courtside at a Detroit Piston's home game. Joy
opened the set by jokingly showing off a black faux fur cape she purchased at a
boutique in the Eastern Market. Then she sang Like Someone in Love, dedicating it to the late Barry Harris, one
of her mentors. A renovated version of Stardust and If You Never Fall in Love with Me followed. Her voice on ballads landed
on the audience like a warm cashmere blanket. The highlights were plentiful. My
favorites were the duet with Grasso on But
Beautiful, and her retooling of I'm
Confessing That I Love You. If Ella Fitzgerald had a great-great-granddaughter
who had chops, chances are she'd sound like Joy and have her magnetism.
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