Samara Joy
's fourth album, 2024's
Portrait
, is a lushly rendered octet showcase for the Grammy-winning singer's broad jazz virtuosity. Co-produced by
Joy
and veteran trumpeter
Brian Lynch
at New Jersey's legendary Rudy Van Gelder studios, the album finds
backed by her touring ensemble, featuring trumpeter
Jason Charos
, alto saxophonist/flutist
David Mason
, tenor saxophonist
Kendric McCallister
, trombonist
Donavan Austin
, pianist
Connor Rohrer
, bassist
Felix Moseholm
, and drummer
Evan Sherman
. The result is a little big band album in which
's shimmering, ascendent vocals are both framed by and nicely integrated into the octet arrangements. As on her past records, she strikes a pleasing balance between warm interpretations of the American Popular Songbook and jazz standards where she adds her own lyrics, transforming the song into something even more her own. While technically proficient,
is never too cool. Her voice is warm and enveloping, and cuts like her lilting take on "Autumn Nocturne" find her further coming into her own style while still evoking icons like
Sarah Vaughan
and
Betty Carter
. It doesn't hurt that she has surrounded herself with an equally talented band of instrumentalists who get plenty of room to add their own improvisational voices to the proceedings. Often, as in her blissful opening take on "You Stepped Out of a Dream," she sings the main lyric and then blends wordlessly into the band's arrangement, soaring in rich harmony, before letting a soloist take over. Central to the album is her bold reading of
Charles Mingus
' classic "Reincarnation of a Lovebird," retitled here with the added "(Pursuit of a Dream)." Where the original 1960 version has a swinging, bluesy quality,
transforms the song into a Baroque and noirish vocal sculpture. Central to her arrangement is an extended rubato introduction that she sings unaccompanied, her voice a pristine sine wave of linear harmony that builds to a bright falsetto sparking her band's entrance. Jaw-dropping in its sheer artistry, the performance, as with all of
, underscores just how seemingly limitless
's skills are. ~ Matt Collar