Courtesy of David Bazemore

Acclaimed jazz vocalist Samara Joy McLendon received a boisterous welcome from the Granada Theatre’s full house for her dazzling set on Oct. 2. Opening the UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures’ Jazz Series (sponsored by the Manitou Fund), Joy’s return to Santa Barbara after her 2023 “A Joyful Holiday” show brought more insight into her astounding sound as a developing writer and bandleader.

Just 25 years old with five Grammys and a host of accolades, Joy is recognized as a timeless jazz icon of the new generation. In 2023, she received the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2023 (the second jazz artist to do so, after bassist Esperanza Spalding), and in 2025, she accepted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.

The Bronx native insisted to the crowd that her upbringing amid gospel singers and her family’s jazz background informed her musical identity and the pursuit of her craft. She admitted she only started listening to jazz seriously after starting at the State University of New York at Purchase, where she won the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, launching her career as a new jazz star.

With the stage on Thursday draped in a deep indigo, Joy’s presence brought a fresh glow to the theater — her tangerine dress shimmering as her hands guided the start of the night. Her melodic jumps in the first striking chords of “‘Round Midnight” hushed the theater’s loud reception and shifted into a lively rendition of Thelonious Monk’s standard.

Connor Rohrer on piano, Conway Campbell on bass and Evan Sherman on the drums held down the beating heart of Joy’s covers and compositions, which remained as tributes to her heroines. Her cover of Betty Carter’s “Beware My Heart” featured fast-paced solos by Alexandra Ridout on the trumpet and David Mason on the flute and alto saxophone, both accompanying the operatic registers Joy fled to with a full tone. The octet, also comprising Kendric McCallister on the tenor saxophone and Donavan Austin on the trombone, had formed over the last two years in an effort to create a space for creativity and — what Joy called — a sound “inspired by many musicians and their creative journeys,” but one uniquely their own.

The culmination of their talents was Joy’s latest album release titled “Portrait” (2024), which showcases what she called “cultivating a sound.” 

“I’m a little biased, but it is my favorite [album] thus far,” Joy said.

Within the “Portrait” landscape was her performance of “Three Little Words,” a single she released a week prior, featuring grumbling bebop and excited declarations of love. Following as a light open breeze, “You Stepped Out Of A Dream,” the lead song on the album, had the brass flourishing around Joy’s playful vocals beside the saxophone melody. Joy crooned in a sweet tenor to “A Fool in Love (Is Called A Clown),” an original composition by trombonist Austin, and then expressed her gratitude for the support she received in “making this dream of [hers], to do this, come true.”

“I feel like I can do anything,” Joy said humbly over growing applause.

Joy then strayed from her album with a rendition of Carmen McRae’s “It’s The Little Things That Mean So Much.”

“The title of this song — it’s a fact of life,” she noted earnestly, before allowing Campbell to jump into a cutting bass line that turned irregularly into a heavy stomp. Sherman’s rhythm on drums accompanied McCallister in a ripping tenor saxophone solo that spanned nearly four minutes, his fast-scaling riffs eliciting laughs and exclamations of disbelief from the crowd. The front orchestra clapped with hands above their heads, and one front-row enthusiast jumped up with applause and bowed in praise toward McCallister.

By no means was the audience faint: shouts of enthusiasm — whoops, whistles, ‘yeahs,’ ‘all rights’ and ‘mmms’ — erupted recurrently throughout the set, giving Joy the silence to find her dynamics and the appreciation to run with her expertly controlled riffs. The band was clean-cut corners but jam-packed with expression.

To calm the air, Joy swept the crowd with “Come Sunday” by Duke Ellington, a sacred composition that emphasized her gospel roots, with brass notes like bells tolling. Her storytelling continued to pull the audience with her cover of Billie Holiday’s “Left Alone,” a haunting tune that suited Joy’s silky, maroon voice.

Joy rounded out the set with “No More Blues” from “Portrait,” a sunny, joyful piece near the end of her album that celebrates the heart being home all along, emphasizing the familial influences in her music and indicating that her growth is only just beginning. She traveled easily into different realms of her voice, from a dreamy falsetto to a sweet whistle, back down to her sonorous chest sound. Behind her, the band experimented with rhythm, tempo and style that got audience members bouncing their knees and bopping their heads.

Joy received a lengthy standing ovation that brought her back onstage for an encore.

“Just one more,” she said with a grin lending itself to her voice. With the band talking to each other in a bluesy swing cover of Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King’s “Buzz Me Baby,” Joy traded giggles with the crowd, singing cheeky lyrics like, “if you forgot the number, come over and you won’t have to call at all.” Every audience member was snapping, then clapping along to the beat, the energy rising with Joy’s octaves. Her final flourish aroused another standing ovation, and her lively presence remained buzzing in the theater even after she took her last bow. As one audience member reflected, it is easy to be astounded even before Miss Samara Joy sings a note. 

Artists like Joy are bringing classic standards to new ways of thinking and have cast their spell on younger generations. Joy and her evolving voice honor the merit of the living texts of jazz, a challenge that makes every choice and the little things mean so much.

Joy’s tour will continue down the west coast toward Los Angeles before taking the international stage, returning to North America in November.

A version of this article appeared on p. 15 of the Oct. 9, 2025 print edition of the Daily Nexus.