Samara Joy Paints A ‘Portrait’ Of Creative Freedom And Fearless Collaboration With Upcoming Album

To see Samara Joy perform live is to experience the artist transcend into another realm. It is a gift she has shared from many stages over the years, captivating audiences with her incomparable vocal technique, warm and precise. Supported by a band just as dedicated to sharing their gifts at the highest level, the group have formed a palpable chemistry that permeates both their performances and their studio collaborations.

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With her new album, Portrait — following her 2022 breakout album Linger Awhile — Joy finds creative freedom in bringing her unique lyrical perspective to timeless standards, being sure to choose tunes that have largely gone overlooked. This is in addition to original works, all birthed over the course of three days at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder studio in New Jersey.

This is thanks to the collaborative efforts of her longtime friends and octet members, including trumpeter Jason Charos, saxophonists David Mason and Kendric McCallister, trombonist Donavan Austin, pianist Connor Rohrer, bassist Felix Moseholm and drummer Evan Sherman. With co-production from trumpeter and musical director Brian Lynch, the crew composed a body of work showcasing their collective commitment to honoring icons such as Art Blakey and Max Roach, along with the freedom to make it their own, a tricky balancing act for many a modern day jazz artist.

Still, the Grammy-winner does just that, infusing her own lyrics, pontificating on love and loss, over eight tracks guaranteed to not only impress, but change the way we listen to modern vocal jazz.

During a chat discussing the upcoming release with VIBE, Joy breaks down how the collaborative project came to be, her ever-evolving vocal choices, and what she hopes listeners will take away from Portrait, while also reflecting on what she discovered about herself in the midst of its creation.

VIBE: So let’s start off with the studio. Why was it important for you to record that album at the Van Gelder studio specifically?

Samara Joy: Because of the relationship that the band and I had built on stage, being in close proximity, and having that directly affect how we can present the music, I wanted us to be in a room that was made for music to be presented and recorded in close proximity, and have it sound natural and organic, as if we were performing live on stage. Rudy Van Gelder has been a space designed specifically for that for such a long time, that I thought it would be nice to see how it felt to take what we have done and what we have curated on stage into the studio.

VIBE: Yes, I actually had a question about that, as well. How would you say your live performances, when you’re in front of an audience and exchanging that energy with the crowd, how do those moments influence the choices you guys make in the studio?

Samara Joy: I think that I remind myself that the same energy that I feel on stage that I want to give to the audience so they can be receptive of the music that we want to present, is the same way that I would approach being in a studio. I don’t want it to be less energetic or give any less of my effort just because I only see a microphone in front of me, as opposed to an audience of a lot of screaming people.
But I think the main thing that I guess I try to translate from the stage to studio is keeping things energetic, keeping things authentic, so that when people hear it, maybe hopefully they have the same feeling in their headphones that they feel when they see a live performance.

VIBE: I know your band was highly involved in the arrangements of the songs for Portrait. Can you speak a little bit to how that came to be?

Samara Joy: Yes, they were very heavily involved in all of this.

I was listening to a lot more of orchestration, listening to a lot of Duke Ellington and arrangers like Benny Golson, and wanted to have that sound in my band. Not wanting to necessarily copy that, but create our own version of it in this day and age, similar to the way our heroes and inspirations did during their time.

I thought that the perfect way to do that would be to gather my peers, who are all individuals, but like-minded in the way that they love music and they want to write. They have that love to want to compose, and to arrange, and they have fresh ideas. I realized that if I put it all together in one spot and had a designated space for us to write, and to make mistakes, and to try things over again, and to really, really hone in on getting better, that it would be a sound, it would be a group that is inspired by many, but still has a unique sound of our own, because it’s our fresh perspectives in this day and age.

VIBE: That makes complete sense. It actually leads into another question I had. How you are able to cover these timeless standards, and then also infuse them with something that is uniquely you? How do you strike that balance so you’re not imitating, but paying homage in a very unique way that speaks to you and your band?

Samara Joy: The way that I do it has definitely evolved as the repertoire has evolved. There’s less of a focus on re-imagining standards as there are rediscovering ones that maybe don’t have the same spotlight.

I think that the evolution from the first and second album was covering standards and keeping things relatively simple, to writing my own lyrics, participating in all aspects of songs, whether it be singing along to musical lines written by the horn players, or having my own vocal parts designated specifically for me in order to line up with the harmony that’s happening.

So, yeah, I think re-imagining has taken a different form from just covering standards. Writing lyrics to songs that don’t have words to them and evolving in that way. I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to expand my repertoire book. I definitely know a lot of songs, a lot of classic timeless standards, but I’m glad to also grow in the way of introducing songs to people that they might not have otherwise heard with my own lyrics and my own interpretation of it in that way.

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VIBE: Speaking of interpretations, were there ever any artistic clashes with you and any band members when it came to an arrangement choice? And if so, how were they resolved?

Samara Joy: I don’t know if there are clashes as much as there are just adjustments made. I try to leave things as open as possible, but I don’t want to ever be complacent with the way a certain thing should sound. Like, “I want something to sound this way, exactly like this, exactly like this.” However, I also know that each band member has their own musical background and their own musical influences, and they hear things maybe in a different way than I do. I understand that the intention behind the arrangement is to support me, while also realizing their vision for the song. It’s all open ground.

If I’m hearing a different ending than they are, we can play it through a couple times or rehearse it, rehearse it faster, rehearse it slower. But rather than clash, I think adjustments are made as we grow with the music and as we play it more.

VIBE: You have a second-to-none, amazing voice. How would you say you’ve continued to develop as a vocalist since Linger Awhile ?

Samara Joy: I feel that it’s definitely changed. I listened to clips of Linger Awhile and I can hear the hesitation in some areas, the lack of confidence in some areas.

And honestly, there were just things that I wasn’t listening to and I wasn’t aiming for at that time, and ideas that I had in my head that I couldn’t necessarily execute, that now I feel like I have the courage, and the experience, and the practice to do so.

Whether it’s expanding my range, or having better intonation. Listening to and understanding what’s going on around me musically. Being able to interact with my band members, as opposed to just singing without listening to the music that’s playing. I feel like my ears and my voice have grown a lot in the years since Linger Awhile was recorded and released.

VIBE: What’s something that you learned while creating this album?

Samara Joy: I learned that I enjoy being hands-on in the process.

I feel like I had always been listening, but with the first two albums, I was a little too scared to listen back to my mistakes, and to the takes and stuff like that, so I handed it off. Now, I’m enjoying being a part of every single part of the process, whether it’s in the studio, listening back to takes. Understanding, “Okay, this take sounds better, but the solo sounds better here. How do we fix this? How do we shorten this? This got a little long.”

This album has also taught me that it’s okay to express your opinion on things and share feedback, and all that kind of stuff. And really listen intently to make sure that this project is one that you want people to hear, but one that I enjoy myself as well.

VIBE: Last thing. What’s something that you hope people will take away from Portrait?

Samara Joy: I hope they take away that it’s good music. And I hope that they understand that it’s an album that was crafted for you to listen to. It’s like a rollercoaster of emotions, addressing topics, addressing my life, my first original song, and how overwhelming it was to experience all that I have over the past three years. Loss of a mentor. Love.

I hope that people understand that it’s a real documentation of where I am at this very moment. And hopefully, they’ll be receptive of that.

Portrait is set to be released on October 11.

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