BBC Proms 2025: The Great American Songbook and Beyond with Samara Joy
When Samara Joy announced that she would be appearing at the Proms with a programme billed as a tribute to “The Great American Songbook and Beyond”, one could be forgiven for anticipating a fairly predictable evening: Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter – the dependable pantheon. We all prepared ourselves to tap along and wiggle in our seats to the familiar strains of Cheek to Cheek and Night and Day. But from the moment Joy took the stage, it became evident that she had something altogether different in mind. What unfolded was not merely a concert, but one of those rare performances you remember for a lifetime.
Joy appeared, radiant in a white gown and platform heels. At just 25, the Bronx native has risen with astonishing speed: a number one album on the Billboard jazz albums chart and five Grammys to her name. Hailed as “the next jazz sensation” and “a legend in the making,” she’s often compared to greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Yet such labels, however well-intentioned, fall short of capturing the full scope of what Joy brings to the stage. Her artistry resists easy lineage or categorisation. It is, unmistakably, her own.
She opened with You Stepped Out of a Dream, by Nacio Herb Brown – a canny choice, at once nodding to the tradition and suggesting her own capacity to lead us somewhere unexpected. Throughout the evening, her selections confounded any lazy assumptions. Yes, there were a handful of classics (Misty, Stardust, I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good), but the programme roamed further afield: Sam Coslow, Teddy Wilson. Each song bore the mark of careful curation. Nothing was merely performed; everything was reimagined.
The voice is, of course, the marvel: agile, buttery in its lower reaches, capable of bluesy intimacy, then ascending without warning into a stratosphere of operatic soprano. She moves between registers with the kind of ease that suggests not only technical mastery but a deep, intuitive understanding of where a phrase wishes to land. Supporting her was the BBC Concert Orchestra under the baton of Miho Hazama, alongside Joy’s own impeccable jazz octet. Together, they stretched these songs beyond their usual contours: grand, orchestral, full of drama and atmosphere. At times, the strings seemed to dissolve beneath her scats, while the octet grounded everything with rhythmic assurance. An early imbalance in the sound (the orchestra briefly overwhelmed her) was quickly fixed, and from there the concert unfolded in perfect balance: voice, orchestra, and band working in exquisite harmony.
Joy, it should be said, possesses an effortless charm. Between songs, she shared brief, personal anecdotes about her selections: why they matter to her, why they might matter to us. She was meticulous in crediting her collaborators, many of whom had provided the evening’s arrangements. In The Five Stages of Love (Love’s Impression), arranged by her tenor saxophonist Kendric McCallister, she withdrew almost entirely, allowing the music to speak in its own language, offering only wordless vowels in gentle accompaniment.
Towards the end, we were treated to a euphoric take on Chega de Saudade (No More Blues), the bossa nova classic. Joy leaned into the music with a kind of frenzied insistence, scatting almost in ecstasy. The performance drew a standing ovation that seemed to entirely surprise her. As she left the stage, the audience clamoured for more, and she returned for an encore: Buzz Me, the Louis Jordan jump blues. Another standing ovation.
What’s most striking is how palpably Joy loves what she does. It radiates through every phrase, every note, every unexpected turn. You left the hall with the sense that you hadn’t simply heard great music, but witnessed something rare: the emergence of raw talent stepping fully, and confidently, into mastery. One can only wonder – and eagerly – what she will do next.
Constance Ayrton
Photos: Samara Joy © AB + DM
For further information and future events, visit Samara Joy’s website here.
Watch the video for You Stepped Out of a Dream here:
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