By Donelle Wedderburn for NPR
Jazz Night In America kicks off a new mini-series called Youngbloods, which will put the spotlight on five emerging artists who are carving new paths with their distinct points of view.
Joy blurred the boundaries between theater and jazz as she took on the challenge of embodying vocalists like Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae while creating a distinct style of her own. Her former professor, Jon Faddis, feels similarly. “If you can trade with an Ella Fitzgerald, you’re fine. You’re on your way. She took the baton and ran with it, she’s like the Flo Jo of jazz.”
In this episode we’ll hear highlights of a live set at Dizzy’s Club, an unreleased track from her forthcoming record, Linger Awhile, and Joy’s perspective on how her musicianship has developed after releasing her debut album, Samara Joy.
“I’m looking forward to singing standards of a different era, but hopefully finding the work that will become standards. There are wonderful songwriters out there still doing it, and I hope to do that as well.”