Samara Joy

Anderson .Paak, Herbie Hancock, Thundercat, And More Are Set To Headline Newport Jazz Festival 2023

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Anderson Paak Concert PNE Amphitheatre 2019
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Another day, another legendary music festival lineup to announce. This go-’round is one of the most iconic festivals dedicated to jazz music lovers: the Newport Jazz Festival.

The multi-day outdoor event is set to celebrate its 69th anniversary, making its highly-anticipated return to Fort Adams State Park in Rhode Island. The Newport Jazz Festival will take place between August 4 and 6. Opening day, Friday, August 4, will be headlined by Kamasi Washington, DJ Pee .Wee (also known as Anderson .Paak), and Big Freedia. Whereas Jon Batiste and Thundercat are billed to headline the following day, Saturday, August 5. Closing out the festival is none other than jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Diana Krall.

Other notable acts include Grammy’s newest Best New Artist winner Samara Joy, Charles Lloyd, Vijay Iyer, DOMi & JD Beck, Arooj Aftab, Big Gigantic, Alfa Mist, Cautious Clay, Durand Jones, and The War & Treaty.

Tickets for the festival will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, March 22, at 1 p.m. est. The organizers are offering a student discount rate for those between the ages of 10 and 25. For more information, click here.

View the full lineup organized by day via the poster below.

Newport Jazz Festival 2023 Flyer
Newport Jazz Festival

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Who Is Samara Joy? Meet The Grammy’s 2023 Best New Artist Winner

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Samara Joy Grammys 2023
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Best New Artist is subject to mockery because the nominees are usually established artists by the time they are nominated for Best New Artist. Olivia Rodrigo won the award in 2022 after her record-breaking 2021 entrance with “Drivers License” and Sour.

Rodrigo presented the Best New Artist category at the 2023 Grammys last night, February 5, and in a refreshing turn of events, it was likely the first time most of the audience had heard the name Samara Joy.

Joy, 23, claimed the title over more mainstream nominees Anitta, Domi & JD Beck, Latto, Måneskin, Molly Tuttle, Muni Long, Omar Apollo, Tobe Nwigwe, and Wet Leg. The New York jazz singer also won Best Jazz Vocal Album for Linger Awhile.

Joy has been in the spotlight before now, though. She performed “Nostalgia (The Day I Knew)” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and “Warm In December” on The Kelly Clarkson Show in December. She also recently graced Spotify’s Best New Artist event.

As relayed by The Los Angeles Times, “Joy grew up the granddaughter of Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, who performed with a Philadelphia gospel group, the Savettes. Yet as a kid Joy also sang in school musicals and absorbed the soul and R&B music of Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan. In 2019, while studying at the State University of New York at Purchase, she won the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.”

Joy paid homage to her musical influences during her endearing Best New Artist acceptance speech.

“I am so, so — oh my gosh, I can’t even believe. I’ve been watching y’all on TV for so long,” she said. “To be here with you all, born and raised in the Bronx, New York, my family is here. I’ve been singing all my life.”

She continued, “Thank you so much for this honor. Thank you to everyone who has listened to me, who has supported me. All of you are so inspiring to me, and so to be here because of who I am — all of you have inspired me because of who you are. You express yourself 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.”

Watch below.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jazz Singer Samara Joy Picked Up The Best New Artist Grammy Award For 2023

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Samara Joy 2023 Grammys
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The 2023 Grammy Awards are happening now, and the winner of Best New Artist was just revealed. Anitta, Domi & JD Beck, Latto, Måneskin, Molly Tuttle, Muni Long, Omar Apollo, Samara Joy, Tobe Nwigwe, and Wet Leg were nominated for the award, but it was Joy who came away with the win.

Joy had two nominations this year and won them both: Before Best New Artist, her album Linger Awhile won Best Jazz Vocal Album.

While Joy ended up winning, all of the nominees had strong cases. Joy already has a Best New Artist award under her belt, as Jazz Times gave her that honor in 2021. Anitta’s “Envolver” was a global hit that was the first song by a Brazilian artist to rank No. 1 on the daily Spotify Global Chart. Domi & JD Beck signed to Anderson .Paak’s label Apesh*t Inc. and quickly announced Not Tight, a debut album that featured .Paak, Thundercat, Mac DeMarco, Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, and others. Latto had a major hit with “Big Energy” in 2021 and has only upped her clout since then.

Måneskin got a Eurovision Song Contest 2021 victory and rode the momentum to international stardom. Molly Tuttle released Crooked Tree, her first album on Nonesuch, and it earned a Best Bluegrass Album nomination at this year’s Grammys. Omar Apollo had a TikTok hit with “Evergreen,” from the well-received debut album Ivory. Tobe Nwigwe has been consistently productive in recent years and found himself performing on The Tonight Show earlier this year. Finally, we have Wet Leg, “Chaise Longue” is one of the most beloved rock songs in recent years, and it’s found a fan in Dave Grohl.

Find the full list of this year’s Grammy nominees and winners here.