Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
In Memoriam: Cassandra Wilson, 1955–2026
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
Samara Joy gives her acceptance speech at the Grammys on Feb. 5.
(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)Jazz vocalist Samara Joy was crowned Best New Artist during this year’s Grammy Awards on Feb. 5. The deeply emotive singer also won Best New Jazz Vocal Album for her critically acclaimed 2022 recording Linger Awhile (Verve), featuring guitarist Pasquale Grasso, pianist Ben paterson, bassist David Wong and drummer Kenny Washington. Linger Awhile finds Joy updating beloved songs with a modern twist, sometimes singing original lyrics using the melodies of famous instrumental solos, a style known as vocalese.
Joy performed “Can’t Get Out Of This Mood” at the Grammys Premiere Ceremony, held during the afternoon on Feb. 5, prior to the evening telecast.
“I’ve been watching y’all on TV for so long,” Joy said to fans and fellow artists during her acceptance speech. “I’ve been singing all my life. … Thank you so much for this honor. Thank you to everyone who has listened to me and supported me. All of you are so inspiring to me. … You express yourselves for exactly who you are, authentically. So to be here by just being myself, by just being who I was born as, I’m so thankful.”
A 2021 graduate of Purchase College, Joy won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition (using her last name, McLendon) in 2019, while she was still a student. While attending Fordham High School for the Arts in New York, the Bronx native performed regularly with the jazz band and won Best Vocalist at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition.
For more information on winners of the 2023 Grammy Awards, click here. DB
Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.
Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
“The love from the jazz and music community restored my faith in humanity,” Walia wrote in an online post upon his release from detention at an ICE facility.
Aug 18, 2026 2:15 PM
Indian jazz guitarist and composer Pritesh Walia has been released after being unexpectedly detained by ICE and taken…
Bertoncini was a specialist and advocate for the nylon-string acoustic guitar, turning down high-profile opportunities that were unsuited to the sound and techniques that he used with that instrument.
Sep 1, 2026 11:06 AM
Gene Bertoncini, an esteemed jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and educator, died Aug. 29 at the Lillian Booth Actors…
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
