When three-time Grammy winning jazz vocalist Samara Joy McLendon was just a girl growing up in the Bronx, she watched her Philly-based grandparents, Elder Goldwire McLendon and Ruth Byrd, load into their “Godmobile,” a passenger van converted into a tour bus with a generator-powered organ to take their gospel choir and mobile street ministry, The Savettes, on the road. Samara Joy, as she’s known professionally, also remembers her father, Antonio McLendon, a gifted bassist and soulful vocalist, leaving home to tour with the gospel singer-songwriter Andraé Crouch. Her uncle, Laurone McLendon, and cousins, Tiera Lovell Rowe (vocalist) and Thomas Niblack (bassist and vocalist), are likewise virtuosos.
The McLendon family is now following in the footsteps of Joy’s grandparents by taking a family act on the road for the holidays. “A Joyful Holiday Tour” showcases Joy, her aforementioned father, cousins, uncle and, for select shows, 94-year-old grandfather, all performing holiday tunes and sultry jazz numbers at venues across the nation.
The McClendon renditions of holiday classics are no ordinary carols. The precision of their vocal control, buttery richness of tone and harmonious blending of sounds put the McClendon family in a league of their own. One need only listen to the family’s version of “O Holy Night” to understand.
The “A Joyful Holiday” tour kicked off Dec. 3 at Penn State before heading for stops in major cities such as Detroit, New York and Chicago, making its way to Atlanta on Dec. 22 at the Fox Theatre.
“This tour is kind of a way for me to say thank you, not only to everybody who has been so supportive of this journey of mine so far … but also a thank you to my family,” Joy said. “This is a dream of theirs as well, to be able to perform and use their gifts and their strengths and their passion. … I feel grateful to have a platform, enough of a platform, to share it with them.”
The tour pulls tunes from Joy’s holiday EP “A Joyful Holiday,” which was released in 2023 and was recently nominated for two Grammy Awards, best jazz vocal album and best jazz performance. The two nominations came on the heels of Joy’s three Grammy wins in two consecutive years — two at the 65th annual awards for best jazz vocal album for “Linger Awhile” and best new artist, and last year’s win for best jazz performance for her self-produced song “Tight.”
The first year Joy was nominated for a Grammy, she was shocked. She had only been singing jazz for about five years. She studied the craft in college at SUNY Purchase and in 2019 had won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, but she did not expect to be nominated for two Grammy Awards just a few days after her 23rd birthday.
She remembers getting the news via text messages while she was in the quiet car on a train from Washington, D.C., to New York. She held in her excitement long enough for the doors to open. When they did, she burst out from the train hollering with glee. Her sister was there to film her reaction. The clip, which shows Joy spinning and dancing with her rolling suitcase in the concrete corridor of the station, went viral on TikTok.
For a jazz vocalist to be nominated for best new artist against more mainstream artists — Atlanta rapper Latto, Latin pop singer Anitta and Nashville guitarist Molly Tuttle — was a testament to her vocal impact. She has an old-soul sound, which rises from her diaphragm with such spine-tingling power listeners can’t help but be captivated.
To be so accomplished at the age of 25, having experienced such a rapid rise, could easily balloon one’s ego. But Joy still seems to carry a steady humility, which she credits to her family and faith.
“It’s been ingrained in me through faith to think of your gifts as not necessarily just for you …,” she said. “Both my parents are very avid spiritual people, Christian people, and seeing that kind of example growing up … helped me stay grounded. … I never want to get so carried away with compliments or accomplishments that I just forget. After the Grammys, I knew I didn’t want to get caught up in it. I knew that I wanted to … be someone of substance, so that no matter which way the tide turns or the wind blows, I still am secure in who I am.”
Humility and confidence, however, are not mutually exclusive. Joy said with her latest album, her third studio album entitled “Portrait,” she wanted to musically paint a picture of herself as she is now: more empowered and self-possessed.
“I would describe myself at this point in time as someone who has more creative control and more depth,” she said. “I think when I was creating my first couple of albums, I didn’t have a handle on what my vision was or a handle on being a leader — a band leader.”
After the first Grammys she had a couple years to explore what she really wanted next. “Portrait” started coming together at a time when she was listening to more large-ensemble, orchestral recordings.
“I was singing along to arrangements, and I just wanted that kind of sound behind me,” she remembers.
She joined forces with veteran trumpeter and multi-Grammy winner Brian Lynch to coproduce “Portrait.” The album layers Joy’s smoky vocals with seven instrumentalists to create a jazzy, big-band sound. An intimate, soulful chemistry has developed with the octet, which this year went on an international tour. The band played concerts at legendary jazz festivals in Italy, Portugal, Malta, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Norway.
With so much traveling, Joy was ready to settle down with her family this holiday season. Instead, they decided to tour together. A day in the life of the McClendon family starts in a hotel, waking up down the hall from each other.
“I wake up, and I ask everybody if there’s free breakfast,” she said. “If there’s not, I’m searching for the best breakfast spot in the place that we’re in. We make so many jokes. This family has a sense of humor.”
In the evening the family picks up their stylist-coordinated outfits for the night. Sometimes it’s a blue night, other times a green or red night. For each show, the family brings in a local choir to perform. In the evening, the family cozies up, watching television and resting before another day on the road.
Of all the accolades Joy has earned the past few years, including The New York Times praising her for “helping jazz take a youthful turn,” one of the most touching she’s gotten has been from her musical grandfather.
“He’s been really expressive with how proud he is of me,” she said. “He’s 94 and he still calls me … it’s a beautiful thing.”
IF YOU GO
Samara Joy: “A Joyful Holiday” Featuring the McLendon Family
8 p.m. Dec. 22. $45.50-$105.50. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 855-285-8499,Foxtheatre.org
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