University at Buffalo Center for the Arts has announced a February 2027 performance from six-time Grammy winning jazz vocalist Samara Joy as a part of her international tour starting Nov. 8. Joy will perform at the Mainstage Theatre Feb. 20, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
The 26-year-old Bronx native grew up listening to R&B and sang in her church’s gospel choir. Music runs in her DNA: her grandparents led the Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes and her father, musician and songwriter Antonio McLendon, recorded his own work and toured with gospel singer-songwriter Andraé Crouch.
Joy attended Fordham High School for the Arts where she won Best Vocalist at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington program. She continued her jazz studies at SUNY Purchase, where she met her key collaborative instrumentalists. In 2019, Joy was launched into the professional jazz world when she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition…