GROSS: Kevin Whitehead is the author of "Play The Way You Feel: The Essential Guide To Jazz Stories On Film." He reviewed Samara Joy's debut self-titled album. Don't you see what a lost lady I'm liable to be if you never fell in love with me? JOY: (Singing) I want to stay here by your side and keep your arms forever occupied.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF YOU NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH ME") The album "Samara Joy" is a public service announcement for jazz education. Samara Joy recorded this disc while still in college in the fall of 2020, making it more than just an imposing debut.
WHITEHEAD: I confess I find Pasquale Grasso's virtuoso guitaring a bit fussy at times, though the contrast between his trio's jitters and the singer's calm is effective. It's a good thing, or it's bad - but beautiful. JOY: (Singing) Who can say what love is? Does it start in the mind or the heart? When I hear discussions on what love is, everybody speaks a different part. And on the Jimmy Van Heusen-Johnny Burke standard "But Beautiful," she includes the too rarely heard opening verse, the introduction that eases you into a Broadway-style song, setting the scene. The forgotten tunes here are worth reviving. She comes from a gospel music family and sang in the choir, but she doesn't employ obvious gospel markers. Some jazz award-winners' first albums proclaim what else they do, show they aren't just into jazz. Even though it's just pretending and the night will soon be through, I can say I'm only lending when I give my heart to you.
Tell the stars above me what's in your heart. JOY: (Singing) Let's dream in the moonlight. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET'S DREAM IN THE MOONLIGHT") On 1938's "Let's Dream In The Moonlight," Samara Joy sounds unhurried, even at a brisk tempo with a double-time feel. The program mixes standards and deep tracks from the Carmen McRae, Nat Cole and Billie Holiday discographies. WHITEHEAD: Samara Joy on the evergreen "Stardust" from the album titled "Samara Joy." It's disarmingly old school with just guitarist Pasquale Grasso's trio to keep her company. JOY: (Singing) Sometimes I wonder why I spend the lonely nights dreaming of a song. And with her clear diction, you can hear every one. She knows good words will carry their own weight. There's also the attention she pays a witty, poetic or heartfelt lyric without overselling it. But her understated, swingy rhythm can feel lighter than air. KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Listening to Samara Joy, I'm struck by the sound of her voice - warm, grounded and sturdy, an impression reinforced by her sure sense of pitch. Fell in love just once, and then it had to be with you. Your answer was goodbye, and there was even postage due. I have telegraphed and phoned, sent an air mail special, too. But now I just can't fool this head that thinks for me, mortgaged all my castles in the air. At first, I thought that you could break this jinx for me, that love could turn the trick to end despair. Every time I play an ace, my partner always trumps - guess I'm just a fool who never looks before she jumps. SAMARA JOY: (Singing) I never miss a thing. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME") Here's Kevin's review of her self-titled album. In 2019, less than two years after discovering Sarah Vaughan, Samara Joy won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. She sang a little jazz with the band at Fordham High School for the Arts in the Bronx but didn't get serious about it until she entered the jazz program at the State University of New York's nearby Purchase College. Our jazz critic Kevin Whitehead likes the new debut album by singer Samara Joy.
0 kommentar(er)
