Samara Joy Leaves New Haven On A High Note

Meredith Truax Photo, courtesy of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. In addition to Joy, musicians included Evan Sherman, Paul Sikivie, Donavan Austin, David Mason, Connor Rohrer, Jason Charos, and Kendric McCallister.

Within a minute of stepping onto the stage, Samara Joy had garnered a wave of applause with an inaugural high-note that cued her band to join in. 

“This girl!” remarked one listener, in both appreciation and eager anticipation of the concert to come. Joy’s vibrant performance of that first song, Charles Mingus’s “Reincarnation of a Lovebird,” set the scene for a performance full of carefully-composed arrangements, dynamic vocals, and vibrant audience engagement.

Last Wednesday night, Joy and her seven-man band descended upon College Street Music Hall for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas’ most successful performance to date. “We crushed our record with this concert,” said Arts & Ideas Executive Director Shelley Quiala. “It’s the highest grossing performance in our festival’s 29-year history.”

Quiala thanked community leader Roslyn Milstein Meyer and Inner City News editor Babz Rawls Ivy for making the show possible, citing their enthusiasm for and dedication to bringing Joy to New Haven.

Joy, a three-time Grammy winner with roots in the Bronx, gained prominence after videos of her singing went viral in 2021. Since then, her social media presence—including a video of her celebrating a Grammy nomination in Penn station—have helped spread jazz to a new generation of musicians. Now 24, Joy has released two albums and come out with a  song featured on the Netflix-original show Shirley.

Joy became involved in jazz near the end of high school, which she called a relatively “late” introduction to the music form. Nevertheless, she continued to explore jazz at the State University of New York at Purchase, where she matriculated after graduating as valedictorian. There, she enrolled in the school’s prestigious jazz program, winning awards for her musical excellence and involvement in the genre.

At Wednesday night’s performance, Joy performed a diverse range of jazz: well-known hits, melodies composed by jazz legends set to her own lyrics, and compositions by members of the band. When her bandmates had solos, she eagerly watched in awe with the rest of the onlookers. Cheering them on, she made sure to announce their names and applaud along with the audience.

Joy expressed her gratitude throughout the night: for the musicians who shaped jazz—Charles Mingus and Billie Holiday among others—her family, and the audience before her. 

Recounting a story about one such jazz icon, Barry Harris, she lauded the musician's commitment to serving as an educator. According to Joy,  Harris even continued teaching during the pandemic, conducting lessons via Zoom. Joy said she was lucky to have had the chance to learn from Harris, who passed away in 2021. 

Then she performed one of his compositions, “Now and Then,” with her own lyrics, encouraging the audience to think of their own loved ones who had passed on.

“This song is for them, too,” she said before delving into the soulful ballad.

Complementary melodies from the saxophone, trumpet, bass, drums, and piano accompanied her tunes, imbuing each song with heartfelt depth.

“Is this really my life,” asked Joy in delight as she looked out at the crowd. “I did not think I’d go from learning about jazz to the end of high school to embarking on all of this.”

Between songs, she took the time to share details about her life and rise to fame with the concert’s attendees. “We have a lot to catch up on,” she joked.

Reflecting on the suddenness of her success, she discussed acclimating to year-long world tours and learning to feel grounded on her own, a feeling she used to rely on her family for.

But even with her newfound independence, Joy’s family remains an involved, supportive presence in her life. “If you hear the whistle, that’s my dad,” she said when one came from the audience after she hit a particularly challenging note.

Joy comes from a musical background, and she sang in the church choir with other family members as a teenager. Speaking to the audience about her musical upbringing, it was no surprise that her love for it had been inherited through generations.

Joy’s reflections on her life echoed the kind of wisdom evident in her lyricism and delivery. When she sang “A Fool in Love is a Clown” and her second album’s title track, “Linger Awhile,” she exuded poignant intensity. She carefully delivered each line, reaching epic high and low notes in a feat of vocal gymnastics.

The audience oscillated between joyful cheers and attentive silence, eager to share their enthusiasm but hard-pressed to risk missing even a single note.

“Okay range!” shouted one excited member of the crowd after Joy hit a stratospheric high.

As the concert progressed, Joy reminisced about her growth. She told attendees about performing in Litchfield and Old Lyme earlier in her career, still grateful for these opportunities. 

When she sang Frank Sinatra’s “Day by Day,” she cleverly modified its lyrics to charm the guests in the crowd.

“I’m falling more and more in love with New Haven day by day,” she crooned, much to the audience’s enjoyment. Later, she praised the city’s pizza, an impressive concession for a New York native.

As the night came to a close, Joy invited members of the audience to dance along to “No More Blues,” a bossa nova standard that was one of her final songs. At first, concert-goers were slow to get to their feet, but Joy assured the crowd that one brave dancer was all it took to get the rest to follow.

People seated in the orchestra sections stood up to move to the music, and before long, even those in the balcony had joined in. 

Joy treated the audience to one last song, “Guess Who I saw Today,” aptly titled for what concert-goers were sure to say to their families when they got home. Attendees tapped their feet, bopped their heads, and occasionally grooved together in pairs. 

Joy’s infectious lust for life and endless appreciation had spread to everyone in the crowd. 

Her thankful sentiments from earlier in the night seemed to envelop the auditorium. “I wasn’t expecting any of this to happen,” Joy had said. “I’m so grateful for all of it.”