Live At The Blue Note L.A. Samara Joy

• 1 Round Midnight (Live At The Blue Note L.A.) 06:51
• 2 Yesterdays (Live At The Blue Note L.A.) 07:22
• 3 Lush Life (Live At The Blue Note L.A.) 06:03
• 4 No More Blues (Live At The Blue Note L.A.) 09:58
• 5 No More Blues – Reprise (Live At The Blue Note L.A.) 01:37
• Total Runtime 31:51

Info for Live At The Blue Note L.A.

Six GRAMMYs, one of the most outstanding jazz voices of her generation – and an artist whose true class really comes to the fore in a live setting: with “Live at the Blue Note L.A.”, Samara Joy releases a new EP, recorded during her sold-out concert series in April 2026 at the Blue Note Los Angeles. In the intimate club setting, Joy’s extraordinary vocal mastery, warmth and spontaneity blend with the well-rehearsed chemistry of her septet. Classics such as ‘Round Midnight’, ‘Yesterdays’ and ‘Lush Life’ are not merely interpreted, but brought back to life. The bossa nova track “No More Blues” brings the album full circle, tying in with her GRAMMY-winning album “Portrait”. “Live at the Blue Note L.A.” brings Samara Joy closer to the listener than ever before: immediate, dynamic and fully in the moment.

Her first live recording: Samara Joy appeared more at ease than on any studio recording during her sold-out series of concerts in April 2026 at the Blue Note Club on Sunset Boulevard in L.A. Unlike in large concert halls, where she also performs internationally time and again, the boundaries between stage and audience blur in such a smaller venue.

The material for the newly released EP *Live at the Blue Note L.A.* – Samara’s first official live release – was recorded during those sold-out Blue Note concerts. The focused programme, lasting just over half an hour, consists of four long tracks and a short reprise. The set list features, of all things, pieces that are steeped in a rich history of interpretation. Thelonious Monk’s ‘’Round Midnight’, Jerome Kern’s ‘Yesterdays’, Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Lush Life’ and Antônio Carlos Jobim’s bossa nova classic ‘Chega de saudade’ – known in English as ‘No More Blues’ – belong to a repertoire that generations of jazz musicians have grappled with. Giving these songs her own unique touch is therefore an art in itself.

‘Live at the Blue Note L.A.’ captures more than just the highlights of a successful concert evening. The EP marks a decisive moment in Samara Joy’s development: the moment when an exceptionally talented performer finally became a bandleader.

Samara Joy, vocals
Cameron Campbell, piano
Martin Jaffe, bass
Evan Sherman, drums
David Mason, alto saxophone
Kendric McCallister, tenor saxophone
Jason Charos, trumpet
Eli Feingold, trombone

Samara Joy
With a voice as smooth as velvet, SAMARA JOY’s star seems to rise with each performance. Following her winning the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, she is currently recording her debut recording, which will feature Samara backed by the Pasquale Grasso Trio.

Growing up in New York, music was a pervasive presence, due to the inspiration of her paternal grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, who led the well-known Philadelphia-based gospel group, The Savettes. Her father toured with the renowned Gospel artist Andrae Crouch, and her home was filled with the sounds of not only her father’s songs and songwriting process, but the inspiration of many Gospel and R&B artists, including Stevie Wonder, Lalah Hathaway, George Duke, Musiq Soulchild, Kim Burrell, Commissioned, and many others.

“Although I didn’t grow up singing in church,” explains Samara, “I constantly heard my family singing inspirational music together, which instilled in me an appreciation for my musical lineage. Through musicals in middle school, I loved exploring the range of my voice and applying the different colors to fit the characters I played. Finally, during high school, I joined the choir at my church, eventually becoming a worship leader, singing three services a week for nearly two years. That was my training.”

Samara’s first exposure to jazz was while attending Fordham High School for the Arts, where she performed regularly with the jazz band, eventually winning Best Vocalist at JALC’s Essentially Ellington competition. However, jazz wasn’t really her focus until the time came to choose a college. Wanting to attend a state school close to home, she picked SUNY Purchase, gaining acceptance into their acclaimed jazz program, with a faculty that includes many jazz masters (including Pasquale Grasso and drummer Kenny Washington, who both appear on her debut recording.)

“My friends were all into jazz and started sharing their favorite recordings with me to check out. The turning point was when I heard both Sarah Vaughan’s version of ‘Lover Man’ and Tadd Dameron’s recordings featuring trumpeter Fats Navarro. I was hooked.”

From this point, she began to pursue her jazz studies with an intense passion, eventually being named the Ella Fitzgerald Scholar and entering and winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

Although having only recently celebrated her 21st birthday, Samara has already performed in many of the great jazz venues in NYC, including Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, The Blue Note, and Mezzrow, in addition to working with jazz greats such as Christian McBride, Pasquale Grasso, Kirk Lightsey, Cyrus Chestnut, and NEA Jazz Master Dr. Barry Harris.

Samara's self-titled debut recording is slated for release on July 9 through Whirlwind Recordings. It presents her backed by the trio of guitarist Pasquale Grasso, bassist Ari Roland, and drummer Kenny Washington. Within the album's liner notes, veteran writer Will Friedwald comments that Samara Joy is “a fantastic collection of highly original new arrangements, beautifully sung by a rising talent, and a very impressive first album. People are forever using the word 'timeless' as if it were the greatest praise ever, but in a way, Samara’s voice and her music seem to belong to all time, like she’s connected to the entire history of jazz all at once - as if she were existing in every era simultaneously, she sounds both classic and contemporary.”

Winning the Vaughan award was transformational for Joy. “I was suddenly on the jazz radar. It’s still bizarre to think of how fast things have progressed.” Since then, Joy has dug deep to discover her jazz roots, without losing sight of the innate simplicity that makes her sound shine. Her first album announces the arrival of a young artist destined for greatness.

This album contains no booklet.