Portrait

Samara Joy’s 2022 breakthrough album, <i>Linger Awhile</i>, established her as a new voice in jazz and helped revitalise the genre within the modern music landscape. She became a household name, armed with accolades and devoted new fans. A lot rides on her shoulders, but on <i>Portrait</i>, she refuses to cave into the pressure. Like its title suggests, the album is a collection of thoughtfully reimagined standards and classics. Each track works as a stand-alone statement of Joy’s talent, but also as part of a greater whole that honours the jazz tradition. On opener “You Stepped Out of a Dream”, best-known from the 1941 film <i>Ziegfeld Girl</i>, Joy steals the show with her scale-hopping vocal performance, showcasing her deepest registers and heavens-reaching falsetto alike. It’s a stunning display, but throughout <i>Portrait</i>, Samara Joy is more interested in honouring these compositions with thoughtful, inventive arrangements than showing off her voice—which speaks for itself.