Published When Samara Joy sings, everything stops. The tension goes away, the shoulders relax, and it seems like peace is within reach.

The 23-year-old has a sound that is both immortal and crisp, mixing old fashioned jazz warbling with the R&B singers she experienced childhood with.

She's not an easily recognized name yet, however the people who know, know.

Additionally, the Grammys honored her with awards for best jazz vocal album and, more significantly, best new artist the previous month.

Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, well-known artists, have recently been awarded the latter prize. Joy had to defeat chart regulars like Latto, Mneskin, and Wet Leg in order to win. She talked about the moment Rodrigo opened the envelope and read her name in London a month after the ceremony.

"I was holding my little brother's hand with my eyes closed; And it was like, "Oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot!" when she said my name.

"I was completely flushed, completely humbled," Adele, Lizzo, and Taylor Swift said, "all these people stood up for me."

But when she got to the stage, she realized something chilling.

She chuckles, "My whole speech was just sitting at the table because I'd left my phone behind!"

The night significantly improved after she sarcastically improvised her thanks.

"It was ridiculous that Beyoncé told me her congratulations after the show. Me and Beyonce in the same room? And is she aware that I exist? It's just absurd. "However, Joy ought to be accustomed to receiving honors by this point.

She only started playing jazz five years ago, but already she has won the Ella Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship and won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

Her voice is warm and sweet, simmering with emotion and lingering over notes like she's enjoying a glass of wine.

She attributes a portion of that to Matt Pierson, her producer and manager, who advised her to "pretend as though a microphone is the person whose ear is listening to you."

However, she also possesses the innate ability to embellish an old song so that the lyrics appear to have been ripped out of her diary.

Fans who aren't familiar with the jazz repertoire may be confused by this approach.

"I love your song, Guess Who I Saw Today?," people say. I'm thinking, "I wish it were mine!" She says about her most recent single, which Nancy Wilson first made famous.

"Others are thinking, "Wow, I didn't know that song existed before, and it's a really great story." It amazes me that people can relate to it.

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