Samara Joy Linger Awhile (Vinyl LP) * * *

2023 Grammy Award-Winner for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist

Once-in-a-generation vocalist Samara Joy has signed with Verve Records for the release of her label debut Linger Awhile. At just 22 years old, Samara has already garnered critical acclaim for a voice "as rich as custard" (The New York Times) and a delivery that is "disarming [and] unhurried" (NPR Fresh Air). The Bronx native took home the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition prize while still in college and also made her "glowing, auspicious debut" (NPR) at the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival, earning multiple standing ovations in the process.

Linger Awhile finds Samara updating beloved songs with a modern twist, sometimes singing original lyrics using the melodies of famous instrumental solos, a style known as vocalese. Recorded at Sear Sound in New York City and featuring exemplary musicianship by Pasquale Grasso (guitar), Ben Paterson (piano), David Wong (double bass), and Kenny Washington (drums), the tracklist is comprised of reinvented classics including "Someone to Watch Over Me" (George Gershwin), "'Round Midnight" (Thelonious Monk), and "Nostalgia (The Day I Knew)" (Fats Navarro). Linger Awhile not only highlights Samara's timeless vocals and a musical wisdom beyond her years, it also introduces this foundational popular music to a fresh audience.

"I am deeply honored to be a part of a roster that has included so many of my greatest vocal inspirations: Sarah, Billie, Ella, and Betty to name a few," says Samara about her Verve debut. "Being a part of this lineage is humbling, and I will continue to use all of the inspiration gleaned from them to pursue my own unique journey as a singer and an artist."