Samara Joy and The McLendon Family, accompanied by Buffalo’s George Brown and the God’s Purchase Choir, took the stage at UB’s Center of the Arts on December 17. The night was full of smooth jazz and Christmas spirit.
As the audience were walking into the auditorium, Samara had a slideshow going of some of her family photos, giving the audience an insight into her family and her upbringing.
Once the audience settled in their seats, the band, composed of Shedrick Mitchell on Piano, Eric Wheeler on bass, and Charles Haynes on drums, came out first and started to play the intro to “Christmas Time is Here,” then Samara came out and began to sing, getting everyone right into the holiday spirit with her jazz rendition of the song.
After the song, she introduced herself and brought out members of her family to sing a few songs with her. She brought out her father, Antonio McLendon, her uncle, Laurone McLendon, and her cousins Tommy Niblack and Tierra “Lovey” Rowe, and rounding out the crew is Stephy Bloom Samara’s vocal director. She then brought out Buffalo’s George Brown and the God’s Purchase Choir who filled in the riser in the back. With her family and the choir, they perform “O Holy Night” and “Everybody Knows It’s Christmas.” Their renditions of these songs had such a warm gospel feel to them with the full auditorium enjoying every moment.
The night wasn’t just full of Christmas spirit as Samara and her band sprinkled in other songs including songs “You Stepped Out Of A Dream,” “Peace Of Mind/Dreams Come True” and “Now And Then” from her recently released album Portraits. They also performed renditions of “Reincarnation of A Lovebird” by Mingus, “Chega de Saudade,” also known as “No More Blue”s by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Billie Holiday’s “Left Alone.”
Samara Joy, truly has a once in a generation voice. At such a young age of 25, she already has such a seasoned voice. Being able to resemble some of the great jazz artists, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, and still having her own sound is a true testament to her talent. Throughout the whole performance, from the moment she started singing, her voice automatically just took you on a journey with her all night.
Comments are closed.