By: Jaclyn Breeze
Samara Joy was born on November 11th, 1999 in the Castle Hill neighborhood in the Brox, NY. She comes from a family of musicians and attended Fordham High School for the Arts. She then enrolled in SUNY Purchase’s jazz program for college where she was named an Ella Fitzgerald Scholar. In 2019 she won the Sarah Vaughan Jazz Vocal Competition and recorded her debut album. She has performed sold-out concerts worldwide at numerous Jazz Festivals. She has also appeared on several TV shows in the US. So far, she has released 4 albums and been featured on several others, won 3 Grammy Awards, and has performed numerous times at the Rochester Int’l Jazz Festival – most recently in 2024.
Listen to some of her work here:
Jazz90.1 Interview at ’23 RIJF
Coloring Sheet
