Samara Joy & Pasquale Grasso

211 West College Avenue,Appleton WI 54911

13 December, 2021

Description

Jazz Coterie live music concert series presents a rapidly rising star — singer Samara Joy — with the veritable Pasquale Grasso Trio. With a voice as smooth as velvet, Samara Joy’s star seems to rise with each performance. Following her win at the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, Samara recorded her 2021 debut album — backed with a trio led by the virtuosic guitar of Pasquale Grasso. “A young singer with the level of talent that only surfaces once in a blue moon.” — London Jazz News 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. “Joy’s approach is so natural, confident, and easygoing that it’s impossible not to like her.” — JazzTimes 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.” “The close precision and frothy power of her voice stand out immediately." — The New York Times “Her understated, swingy rhythm can feel lighter than air. There’s also the attention she pays a witty, poetic or heartfelt lyric without overselling it." — NPR 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.) “Pasquale Grasso is a guitarist with the most phenomenal technique and an endless flow of ideas.” — The Guardian “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. “The most exciting jazz vocal debut for some time.” — London Jazz Times Samara's self-titled debut recording released on July 9, 2021 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. “Classic American song in safe young hands.” — The Guardian Curating the jazz experience in Central Wisconsin. An intimate pop-up concert series showcasing the finest emerging and established artists from across the Midwest and around the globe. More than a musical exhibition, it’s a happening.