On the evening of September 8, jazz\u2019s shiniest young star Samara Joy made her San Francisco Symphony debut at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The night sought to celebrate a blend of jazz and classical music with a full orchestra surrounding Joy\u2019s touring band, playing custom renditions of its compositions.<\/p>\n
Even if you have not deep dived into the world of jazz, Joy is one of the more likely jazz stars you may have come across in recent years. With a voice that makes you pause in surprise with its richness, formally categorized as a rare contralto, Joy has risen in popularity on social media platforms through her soulful approach in introducing jazz classics to younger listeners. At only 26, her legacy already runs deep: Joy has six Grammy Awards to her name, including 2023\u2019s Best New Artist, and has won various jazz contests, including the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Competition in 2019.<\/p>\n
Joy\u2019s program selections paid tribute to celebrated jazz legends\u2019 classics while embracing some more obscure picks. She began with her original composition, \u201cPeace of Mind\/Dreams Come True,\u201d originally released in 2024. The hall\u2019s acoustics reverberated with the oboe\u2019s eerie melody that followed Joy\u2019s confident, velvet voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight is proof that dreams really do come true,\u201d Joy proclaimed following the song\u2019s flourishing end, before continuing with her relaxed single \u201cStardust.\u201d The compositions incorporated every instrument\u2019s effort, including a generous use of a bar chime. The tone of the performance took on a dreamy, almost Disney-like atmosphere \u2014 a unique departure from jazz\u2019s usual intimate and nonperformative nature.<\/p>\n
Joy continued with a cover of Betty Carter\u2019s \u201cBeware My Heart.\u201d Just as the song began, she playfully asserted that \u201cdeveloping a crush is simply a lack of information,\u201d earning a laugh from the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cReality eludes you just for a second … This song is like a stop sign,\u201d Joy said, interrupting the flow of the concert for a reality check. She introduced the song by singing the title, a playful expression on her face. \u201cBeware my heart \/ You\u2019re getting in too deep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Altogether, Joy and the orchestra\u2019s control over dynamics was stellar and felt less calculated than it likely was. As Joy\u2019s voice lowered near the end after a high note, the symphony softened in accord.<\/p>\n
Incorporating lesser known gems, Joy introduced the first movement of a suite Duke Ellington wrote for the queen in 1958 that wasn\u2019t allowed to be released until after he passed away 16 years later, \u201cSunset And The Mockingbird.\u201d The song allowed the oboe\u2019s dragging melody and the flute\u2019s romantic trill to shine through a long intro before Joy joined in her signature deep register.<\/p>\n
Joy entered the stage after intermission, changed into a flowy, electric pink shawl to sing Djavan\u2019s \u201cFlor de Lis\u201d in Portuguese, a cover of which she released last year, offering a soothing and unexpected shift in the program.<\/p>\n
The program continued to Billy Strayhorn\u2019s \u201cLush Life,\u201d earning a cheer of excitement from the audience in recognition of the beloved classic. \u201cLife is lonely again,\u201d she sang darkly, complimenting the lonely nature of the song.<\/p>\n
Joy\u2019s rendition of Billie Holiday and Mal Waldron\u2019s 1959 song \u201cLeft Alone\u201d was the gem of the night among a beautifully executed set. Joy prefaced that Holiday inspired her to grasp a deeper emotional depth in her singing, an anecdote that proved to be stunningly true. Jason Charos\u2019s trumpet started, like an anticipatory call before the piano chimed in.<\/p>\n
The song\u2019s opening notes \u2014 an octave jump into descending harmonic riffs \u2014 dragged the audience into a slow, sultry yet lonely melody, one Joy embraced completely, soulfully. The symphony\u2019s restraint allowed the haunting silence to seep in, allowing its flares to hit harder just a moment afterwards. A lingering trombone note prefaced Joy\u2019s first line: \u201cWhere\u2019s the love that\u2019s made to fill my heart?\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the performance of \u201cLeft Alone,\u201d Joy received the first of her several standing ovations of the night. The single grounded a night otherwise filled with exploration of genre and composition in a true display of her artistry, showing much promise for Joy\u2019s contributions to the future of jazz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the evening of September 8, jazz\u2019s shiniest young star Samara Joy made her San Francisco Symphony debut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[182520,57420,182518,31160,182521,182517,12853,182519,182516,101,103,102,31162,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-463447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-betty-carter","tag-billie-holiday","tag-billy-strayhorn","tag-davies-symphony-hall","tag-djavan","tag-duke-ellington","tag-jazz","tag-mal-waldron","tag-samara-joy","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-san-francisco-symphony","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}