If you are looking for a stock tip, you might want to check in with Mark Davis and Tracy Conrad, who had the prescience of booking vocalist Samara Joy 18 months ago, way before she won two Grammys for New Artist and Best Vocal Album. Buying low and selling high? This is the prophetic team!
With this being her first concert since winning the coveted awards, Ms. Joy was in great spirits, and rewarded the packed house with a 90 minute set that showed not only wisdom in her new found fame, but a bright future. Entering stage left, backed by her adroit team of Ben Paterson/p, Evan Sherman/dr and Mikey Migliore, Ms. Joy engaged the audience with a mix of down home “aw shucks” charm and musical talent that had the audience gasping in appreciation.
Joy’s delivery of pieces from her latest album was a well tuned mix of irresistible swing, sweeping and effortless technique and a mixing of dynamics that worked like the efficiency of a Formula 1 car. Her earthy voice swooped like a pelican in for the kill on “This I The Moment” gave sole support on the intro to “Guess Who I Saw Today” that had Joy warble in agonizing vulnerability, while “Stardust” was a visceral gem, with her voice akin to the pipes of Pan calling out on Mount Olympus.
Besides a respect for standards, Ms. Joy also brings in fresh ideas to the table, singing compositions by Djavan in Portuguese for a serene samba, and adding newer lyrics and moods to tunes by Thelonious Monk, particularly in a kaleidoscopic “’Round Midnight”. She worked the obstacle course of nimble lyrics like a track star, clear and clever on the bopping “Nostalgia” and giving a chasson take of “April In Paris” by singing it in French. Tre bon!
Closing with the blues, one can detect at this stage in her career her influences, with a mix of the range of Sarah Vaughn, the flexibility of Betty Carter, the swing of Ella and the street smarts of Carmen McRae. But even at 23, she is already all her own, and her disarming charm (even to the point of introducing her music teacher as “Mr. Kelly” ) makes it easy to be impressed by not only this young lady’s musicality, but her musical vision.
The Annenberg Theater is a place to keep on your radar, with excellent seating, perfect acoustics and an ambitious administration that is working to lure in big names into the desert. It’s a trip worth taking and checking out, making Palm Springs more than just a place for golf.