In 2021, jazz singer Samara Joy graduated from university. A few months later, he released his first album. Now he has 3. He has won 3 Grammys and is up for two more for his new Christmas release. Talk about Joy to the World: You’ve played sold-out concerts all over America and Europe and are lining them up in Asia and South America. Music critics compare her to jazz royalty Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Not bad for what she calls an accidental career. We got stuck on their Christmas tour, doing a song What Else?

Possibly you know Samara Joy as head of Jazz, but this December is just one of the McLendon family. This year, his foray into Christmas music obtained two Grammy nominations.  

It has been a true whirlwind in years.  

She is as surprised as anyone by her dizzying success. After all, a giant jazz component she sings about last became popular a century ago.   But with a voice as flexible as that of a gymnast.

It has given the old a cool new shine.

It was difficult to believe that jazz was something that stumbled.

Samara speaking at the Purchase College concert: I, a first -year student, had no idea what awaited us. Well, 3 years after graduating, I will be here, in front of you, so.

It is a return home: the first time Samara Joy returned to buy school in New York City, where she studied jazz.  

It almost didn’t happen. She told us it was a toss-up between business or music.

Bill Whitaker: Well, one of your teachers told us that when you introduced yourself to your audition, did you have a prepared song?

Samara Joy: I was like “this is the only jazz song that I know.” He allowed me to sing a hymn too, which was very nice of him. Very kind of him. Um but that was what I had to offer at that time.

Bill Whitaker: So what was it that pushed you on that path?

Samara Joy: I never wanted to regret it. I felt like I could always – even if I was in school for music, I could always get another job. But I – I just wanted to prioritize it first. 

Bill Whitaker: He’s worked.

Samara Joy: It took place. I would say so.

He recorded his first songs in college, with those of his professors, and posted them online.  

Soon he signed a registration contract. Critics say it sings like a soul.

But given her first Grammy nominations in 2022, she has become a true Gen Z, sharing the moment with millions of other people online.

Bill Whitaker: Did you dance? Have you screamed?

Samara Joy: Yeah, in New York, nobody cared. Nobody cared at all. They’re like, “Just another Tuesday” to them. 

And then. . .  

She won. Both. Including the Grammy for best new artist. 

Samara Joy during Grammy acceptance speech: Oh my god, I can’t even, I’ve been watching you all on TV for so long. So, being here with all of you, I’m very grateful, thank you.

Bill Whitaker: So where do you keep all this golden stuff?

Samara Joy: They’re with my parents. 

Bill Whitaker: Did you know they were looking to do this?

Samara Joy: yes, and my father, you know, is a singer and a musician. And my uncles and aunts. Music is part of my family. This is an integral component of how we express and share love for one another.

Bill Whitaker: So there is no way to be a counter?

Samara Joy: Nope.

Joy also celebrated online. His Instagram and Tiktok accounts attract a younger audience, a rarity in jazz. They come just passing through and stay for the music.  

Now, with a larger group, Samara Joy’s third album, “Portrait,” is her ambitious high to date.  

He writes his own songs, through the canons of jazz of the 40s and 50s.  

Bill Whitaker: And how are you doing now?

Samara Joy: Twenty-four. Oh, my God. They gave me 25 years. Forñaste.

Bill Whitaker: What do you think when you hear Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald?

Samara Joy: When I was first given Purchase, Ella and Sarah were the first people I listened to. They were components of my core foundation.

Bill Whitaker: How do you have compatibility for you?

Samara Joy: Listening to her, and listening to all of these singers, I feel like it allowed me to, to shape my idea of what my role could be as a vocalist. Not just learn the melody, sing the melody and that’s it. But you really have to think like a musician and open your ears to what’s happening around you so that you can contribute to it and interact with it.

Christian McBride: His voice will be remembered for a moment.

Christian McBride is a world-renowned bassist, we met him at Minton’s Jazz Club in Harlem. McBride told us, joy is a once-in-a-generation talent. He first heard her sing in 2019. He was a judge in a competition she had entered.

Bill Whitaker: And in comes Samara Joy and you’re goin—what?

Christian McBride: We see this young woman with this voice. She had such a mature sound and a way of having you believe what she was singing. We’re like, “Huh? Who—whose grandma’s in that little body, in that young body, you know?” 

She was born Samara, McLendon. Joy is her middle decision, however, she will tell you that McLendon’s call is her secret power. His grandfather sang with the acclaimed Savettes, an evangelical organization in Philadelphia. His father toured with gospel superstar Andrae Crouch. The Gospel the Soul of the McLendon House.

Bill Whitaker: So how is gospel compatible with your music?

Samara Joy: It is an inspiration and an influence that will never disappear in my voice. And I don’t need it to do it. It has been a component of my life, and in my ears, and in my voice of UM for so long that it is only an innate component of who I am, I feel and that reminds me that it is, in a superior objective.  

Christian McBride told us, Joy’s gospel upbringing gives her voice an emotional depth not all jazz singers can muster.

Christian McBride: In jazz, you have trouble being smart. You have trouble being creative. You have no problem turning to the emotional pool. And I find that Uh, all my favorite singers coming out of the church: Sarah Vaughan is one of them, Aretha Franklin, with the look of someone like Samara, there’s this little thing that can take place here faster, you know? 

Bill Whitaker: You grew up on R&B and gospel and you may have gone in this direction but decided to head towards jazz, why?

Samara Joy: On the contrary, I felt lovely jazz, you know. I felt that I could still be while I was learning all this, this new language. I may still absorb it and then apply it in my way.  

She grew up in a close-knit circle of Bronx family members. So, how do you recognize an MCLENDON? Give them a microphone. It’s a family joke, but everyone sang. All the time.

Joy’s father told us, his daughter was always experimenting.

Or imitating artists on the radio. So, when Tony Mclendon joined us, we had to ask . . .

Bill Whitaker: So, do I see them as pretty smart at karaoke in the car?

Tony McLendon: Oh, yes.

Bill Whitaker: Can you give us a little sample?

Samara Joy: (Bursts into laughter) We, okay, so we did go to the um, the Stevie Wonder concert. And on the way home we were singing along to one of my favorite deep cuts of Stevie.

Samara Joy: You see, yeah. . . Another thing about McLendon, we don’t know the words to anything.

Tony McLendon: We don’t remember.

We met more McLendons as part of Joy’s Christmas tour in Morristown, New Jersey…

. . . where he joined his father, his cousins and an uncle.

No one is more for the circle of McLendon relatives than his 94 -year -old patriarch, Brother Goldwire, grandfather of Joy. He told us that he was inspired by her. And you know what happened next . . .

But nothing has prepared us for the force that Elder Goldwire unleashed on stage. His fragility has disappeared.  

Mclendon’s legacy seems to be in good hands with Samara Joy. Possibly I would not have planned a career in jazz, but, he told us, he thinks he will continue.  

Produced by Heather Abbott and LaCrai Scott. Associate producer, Mariah Johnson. Edited by Craig Crawford.