23-Year-Old Grammy Winner Samara Joy Is the Future of Jazz

>>> NEXT, WE TURN TO THE MUSIC OF RESISTANCE AND THAT IS JAZZ.

THE GENRE OF COURSE HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN PROTEST MUSIC AND IT'S ENJOYING A RESURGING THANKS TO ARTISTS LIKE OUR NEXT GUEST WHO WON BEST NEW ARTIST AND JAZZ ALBUM AT THIS YEAR'S GRAMMYS.

♪ ♪ ♪ GUESS WHO I SAW TODAY MY DEAR ♪ ♪ I'VE NEVER BEEN SO SHOCKED BEFORE, I HEADED BLINDLY THROUGH THE DOOR ♪ >> JOY NOW JOINS MICHELLE MARTIN TO DISCUSS THE REVIVAL OF JAZZ IN MODERN POP MUSIC.

>> THANKS, CHRISTIANE.

SAMARA JOY, THANKS FOR JOINING US.

>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

>> THOSE OF US THAT WATCHED THE GRAMMYS SAW THAT MAGNIFICENT MOMENT WHEN YOU WERE NAMED BEST NEW ARTIST.

>> SAMARA JOY.

♪ ♪ [ CHEERS ] >> CAN YOU REMIND US DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU HEARD YOUR NAME CALLED?

>> OH, I'M PRETTY SURE I KIND OF SPACED OUT A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE I COULDN'T -- I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT IT WAS HAPPENING TO ME.

IT WAS ALREADY A SURREAL MOMENT OF SEEING BEYONCE AND SEEING, YOU KNOW, ADELE AND SEEING LIZZO AND SEEING ALL -- MARY J BLIGE AND PERFORMANCES AND STUFF.

BIG 50 YEARS OF HIP-HOP TRIBUTE.

SO ME AND MY LITTLE BROTHER WERE HAVING A GOOD TIME.

WHEN THE CATEGORY CAME UP, WE WERE SITTING IN THE SAME AREA AND HAVING FUN.

I WAS GEEKING OUT I WAS MEETING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

BUT WHEN THE GRAMMY GOES TO MOMENT CAME, I CLOSED MY EYES AND I HELD MY LITTLE BROTHER'S HAND AND THE CAMERA CAUGHT ME OPENING MY EYES AND JAW DROPPING JUST AS THAT MOMENT CAME AND I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT WAS HAPPENING TO ME.

THAT ARENA WAS HUGE.

I'M PRETTY SURE THAT'S THE MOST -- THAT'S THE BIGGEST AMOUNT OF PEOPLE I HAD TO TALK TO AT ONE TIME.

IT WAS SURREAL.

I WAS LIKE OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, WHAT AM I GOING TO SAY?

WHAT AM I GOING TO SAY?

>> IT'S A RARE MOMENT.

I CAN'T IMAGINE.

MOST OF US CAN'T IMAGINE HAVING TO ADDRESS AND SEE THAT MANY PEOPLE AT ONCE.

LETCOHAERENT.

CUE D KUDOS FOR THAT.

WHAT DID YOU FEEL LIKE THE NEXT DAY?

>> I STAYED WITH MY FAMILY.

WE STAYED AT AN AIRBNB IN BELLAIRE.

WHICH WAS COOL.

I WOKE UP THE NEXT DAY STILL THINKING ABOUT IT.

STILL IN DISBELIEF.

I GOT BACK TO NEW YORK LIKE NOTHING CHANGED.

I'M STILL RIDING THE SUBWAY ALTHOUGH I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T TELL PEOPLE I DO THAT.

THEY'LL BE LOOKING FOR ME ON THERE.

BUT YEAH, I'M DEFINITELY AWARE OF ALL OF THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND KIND OF EYES ON ME AFTER THE FACT BUT ALSO GRATEFUL FOR MY SLICE OF NORMALCY, BEING HOME.

>> LET'S GO BACK AND TALK ABOUT HOW DID YOU REALIZE YOU COULD SING TO BEGIN WITH?

I UNDERSTAND YOUR FAMILY IS MUSICAL, LIKE MOST MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY, YOUR PARENTS, YOUR GRANDPARENTS, ALL HAVE SOME CONNECTION TO MUSIC BUT HOW DID YOU REALIZE YOU COULD SING?

>> I REALIZED I COULD SING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.

I WAS IN 6th GRADE DOING MUSICAL CALLED "ONCE ON THIS ISLAND" AND I HAD THE LEAD ROLE AND MY TEACHER AT THE TIME WAS LIKE HMMM.

MAKING NOTES AND GIVING OTHER PEOPLE NOTES BUT LEAVING ME ALONE.

MAYBE I GOT SOMETHING HERE.

I DON'T KNOW.

AND MY DAD FOUND A CASSETTE TAPE OF ME SINGING USHER AT 5 YEARS OLD.

IT WAS ALWAYS KNOWN BUT I DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL I STARTED PARTICIPATING MORE IN SCHOOL.

>> REALLY?

SO YOUR PARENTS DIDN'T HAVE YOU IN VOCAL TRAINING OR CHORUS OR CHOIR AS A LITTLE KID?

THAT'S AMAZING.

♪ YOU'RE SO LATE GETTING HOME FROM THE OFFICE ♪ DID Y ♪ DID YOU MISS YOUR TRAIN ♪ WERE YOU CAUGHT IN THE RAIN >> WHAT ABOUT JAZZ?

A LITTLE CLICHE BUT WE DON'T ASSOCIATE PEOPLE OF YOUR AGE, I DON'T MEAN TO AGE YOU, OF SORT OF BEING ATTRACTED TO THAT PARTICULAR ART FARM.

OBVIOUSLY, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE.

I'M THINKING ABOUT JOHN BATESTE AND SOME PLAY FROM A YOUNG AGE.

DO YOU REMEMBER LIKE HOW YOU WERE EXPOSED TO THAT ART FORM AND HOW IT WAS FOR YOU?

>> I DIDN'T START LISTENING TO JAZZ SERIOUSLY UNTIL COLLEGE.

I WAS EXPOSED TO IT TOWARDS THE END OF HIGH SCHOOL.

I WAS PARTICIPATING WITH THE BIG BAND AT THE SCHOOL AT MY HIGH SCHOOL AND THEY -- THE TEACHER AT THE TIME SHE ALLOWED ME TO DO A COUPLE OF SONGS WITH THE BAND.

FOUR SHOWS IN SCHOOL AND COOL CONCERTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

AND THOSE WERE THE SONGS THAT I LEARNED WITH THAT BAND IS WHAT I USED TO AUDITION FOR THE JAZZ STUDIES PROGRAM.

I JUST WANTED TO SING BUT I KNEW I COULDN'T GO TO ANY BIG SCHOOLS FOR FINANCIAL REASONS AND SO IT WAS CLOSE BY.

I HAD FINANCIAL AID AND, YOU KNOW, ALL THE IN STATE TUITION SO I WAS LIKE I'LL GIVE IT A DRY.

I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT JAZZ.

THAT WAS LIKE WHEN I HEARD SARAH VAUGHN FOR THE FIRST TIME.

I WAS LIKE I'M I DON'T HAVE A BACKGROUND TO HINDER IT.

I'M OPEN AND TAKING ALL OF THE INFORMATION IN SO.

>> I WANT TO MENTION UNLIKE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES IN JAZZ, YOU DIDN'T GO TO ONE OF THE CONSERVATORIES THAT YOU WENT AS YOU SAID TO STATE UNIVERSITY.

YOU WERE AT PURCHASE AND WENT INTO JAZZ STUDIES PROGRAM THERE.

ONE OF YOUR COLLEGE PROFESSORS SPOKE IN A PREVIOUS INTERVIEW AND TALKED ABOUT AN ASSIGNMENT HE GAVE YOU WHERE YOU HAD TO ADD WORDS TO AN INSURANCTRUMENTAL S AND YOU CHOSE A 1957 TRUMPET SOLO BY NAVARRO "THNASTALGA."

♪ ♪ NOW THE FEELINGS ARE JUST AS STRONG AS WHEN I FIRST LAID EYES ON YOU ♪ >> CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR PROCESS, LIKE HOW YOU PICKED THAT AND WHY IT SUITED YOUR VOICE AND JUST TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT?

>> IT WAS REALLY SPECIAL FOR ME HEARING THAT SONG BECAUSE I THINK FOR MOST INSURANCE MENTAL -- OR JUST MOST JAZZ ALBUMS YOU HEAR,OLOISTS AND THE ARE LONGER, WHICH IS AMAZING BUT WITH THAT SONG, IT WAS LIKE MELODY, ONE TRUMPET SOLO THAT WAS THE DEFINITIVE, YOU KNOW, THE DEFINITIVE VOICE, IMPROVEMENT VOICE ON THE SONG AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE ENDING.

SO IT WAS A REALLY HIGHLIGHT OF NAVARRO'S MASTERY ON THE TRUMPET.

I WANTED TO USE LYRICS TO HIGHLIGHT IT MORE AND BRING OUT, I GUESS, THE STORY THAT WAS ALREADY BEING TOLD AND AS FAR AS THE PROCESS, YOU KNOW, AT FIRST I WAS LIKE I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN DO THIS.

I DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL BE CORNY BUT IT'S AN ASSIGNMENT.

SO THAT'S ALL THE MOTIVATION I NEEDED.

MONDAY IT'S ASSIGNED.

THURSDAY IT'S DUE.

SO I THOUGHT MORE INTENTLY ABOUT BACKGROUND BEHIND THE LYRICS THAT I WANTED TO LIKE TALK ABOUT, MAYBE WHAT WOULD HE HAVE SAID IF HE EXPERIENCED LIFE BEYOND 26 YEARS OLD BECAUSE THAT'S IT.

>> PEOPLE NOTED ABOUT YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE ONLY 23, YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'VE BEEN SINGING FOR DECADES.

THE TEXTURE OF YOUR VOICE, THE INTERPRETATION, YOUR DELIVERY, IT JUST BRINGS UP IMAGES OF THE JAZZ GREATS.

GINA KING, THE QUEEN, SHE SAID IT SEEMS LIKE SARAH VAUGHN AND ELLA FITZGERALD ARE BOTH LIVING IN YOUR BODY.

WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT COMES FROM?

>> WELL, I THINK PART OF IT DEFINITELY COMES FROM MY BACKGROUND IN MUSIC TO BEGIN WITH AS FAR AS LIKE LISTENING TO IT AND SO THEY GAVE ME EVERY RICH MUSICAL OF IT LIKE HIGHLIGHTS AND HEAT WAVE ANDIZELY BROTHERS AND MO TOWN AND THAT KIND OF THING.

BUT I THINK IT WAS A COMBINATION OF IMMERSING MYSELF IN THAT MUSIC AND GOSPEL AND IMMERSING MYSELF IN JAZZ.

I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE AND REALLY HAVE IT IN MY HEAD SO THAT WHATEVER CAME OUT WHEN I SANG WAS REAL.

♪ ♪ IT'S ONLY YOUR ARMS I CAN'T GET OUT OF ♪ >> IT'S FUNNY, PEOPLE FORGET THAT JAZZ, THIS IS EVEN BEFORE MY TIME, JAZZ WAS POP MUSIC, YOU KNOW, BACK IN THE DAY JAZZ WAS DANCE MUSIC.

PEOPLE DID GO TO, LIKE, YOU KNOW, DANCE HALLS AND LISTEN TO JAZZ.

IT WASN'T JUST SOMETHING YOU SIT QUIETLY.

IT WAS THE POP MUSIC OF THE TIME FOR PEOPLE THAT LISTENED TO IT.

I WONDER AS BEING SO YOUNG, DO YOU HAVE A WORRY THAT THE ART FORM ITSELF IS NOT -- DOES NOT HOLD THE PLACE IN THE CULTURE THAT IT USED TO?

>> I'M NOT WORRIED BECAUSE I THINK THAT THE NATURE OF IT, THE NATURE OF THE MUSIC I MEAN IS TO PROGRESS THROUGH THE ARTIST WHO CONTRIBUTE THEIR MUSIC.

AND SO I THINK THAT IT'S STOOD THE TEST OF TIME SO FAR AND THERE ARE MANY ARTISTS KIND OF BEHIND THE SCENES, ALTHOUGH I KNOW THEM BECAUSE THE JAZZ COMMUNITY IS VERY -- EVEN THOUGH IT'S WIDE SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD, IT'S VERY SMALL AND EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERYBODY.

SO YEAH, I THINK IT'S BOUND TO CONTINUE.

I THINK BEING ON PLATFORMS LIKE INSTAGRAM AND TIKTOK WILL DEFINITELY HELP TO SHARE AND CONNECT MY PEERS WITH IT, HOPEFULLY.

IT'S LIKE I'M NOT -- I'M FEELING ANY SORT OF PRESSURE TO LIKE MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T DIE.

IT WAS HERE LONG BEFORE I WAS AND IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE HOPEFULLY LONG AFTER I'M GONE.

>> YOU SAID YOU DON'T FEEL PRESSURE TO SAVE JAZZ BUT EVEN IF YOU DON'T FEEL IT, DO YOU THINK IT'S STILL THERE?

>> IT'S THERE.

IT'S THERE IN THE FUNDING OF JAZZ PROGRAMS AND STATE SCHOOLS WHO DON'T GET ENOUGH MONEY FOR INSTRUMENTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS TO GIVE MUNI SIPGSS TO GO TO SCHOOL IN THE FIRST PLACE AND OPPORTUNITIES AS FAR AS JAZZ CLUBS AND PLACES TO PLAY BUT I'LL FEELING AND THIS IS NOT JUST BECAUSE OF ME BUT A BIT OF A RESURGING IN MORE ATTENTION PAID TO JAZZ AND LIVE MUSIC IN GENERAL, YOU KNOW AND I THINK AS LONG AS THERE CONTINUES TO BE EFFORTS TO WHETHER IT'S HOST FESTIVALS OR FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITIES WHERE WE CAN PROVIDE MUSIC AND PROVIDE MUSICIANS WITH OPPORTUNITIES, IT WILL -- AND THE LOVE OF MUSIC STILL, YOU KNOW, IS THERE, YOU KNOW, AMONG MUSICIANS AND I THINK ALL IS GOING TO BE FINE.

I DON'T KNOW.

NOT CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC BUT OPTIMISTIC OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

>> WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU?

IS THERE SOME HILL LEFT TO CLIMB FOR YOU?

>> ALWAYS.

I THINK AS LONG AS MY FOCUS IS NOT JUST BEING ON TOUR AND SHARING MUSIC AND ALL OF THAT GOOD STUFF BUT LIKE OVERCOMING THINGS THAT I WANT TO GET BETTER AT AND CONTINUE TO GROW AS AN ARTIST AND BE INSPIRED BY MUSICIANS AND SINGERS THAT BROKE BARRIERS AND REALIZE THE FULLNESS OF THEIR POTENTIAL AND VOICES AND THEIR PURPOSES THROUGH THEIR GIFTS, IT'S ALWAYS LIKE OKAY, MAYBE DOING A FAMILY ALBUM, FAMILY ALBUM, FAMILY TOUR GOING INTO THE STUDIO AND ARRANGING OR WRITING MY OWN SONGS OR COLLABORATING WITH MY PEERS AND BRINGING THAT PROJECT TO THE SCHOOLS I WENT TO IN THE BRONX, EXPOSING.

I DON'T KNOW, I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'S ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYBODY.

IT'S NOT JUST LIKE PEOPLE THAT CAN AFFORD JAZZ AND THEN EVERYBODY ELSE.

EVERYBODY GETS TO ENJOY THE MUSIC THAT I LOVE SO MUCH SO THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEXT.

THERE IS ALWAYS SOME HILL TO CLIMB.

>> I CAN'T -- I'M TRYING TO WORK UP HOW TO ASK YOU, WOULD YOU GIVE US A COUPLE OF BARS OF SOMETHING?

[ LAUGHTER ] >> PLEASE, JUST A LITTLE BIT, PLEASE, PLEASE?

♪ THEY SAY INTO YOUR EYES ♪ ROMANCE CAME AND IN THIS HEART OF YOURS IS A FLAME, A FLAME THAT FLICKERED ONE DAY ♪ ♪ AND YOU RIGHT AWAY [ LAUGHTER ] >> I'M DONE NOW.

I'M DONE.

SAMARA JOY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TALKING WITH US TODAY AND CONGRATULATIONS AND WE WISH YOU EVERY GOOD THING AND A SUCCESSFUL AND SAFE AND MEANINGFUL TOUR.

>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS TIME.

IT WAS A PLEASURE.