Jazz at the NCMA presents Samara Joy and SuperBlue: Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter

The third installment of the 2024 season features a co-bill featuring “the rich and velvety yet precociously refined” stylings of Samara Joy, the 24-year-old jazz sensation who took home 2023 Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album, and SuperBlue, featuring jazz vocalist Kurt Elling and producer/guitarist Charlie Hunter. SuperBlue performs first.

About Samara Joy
With her Grammy Award–winning Verve Records debut, Linger Awhile, 24-year-old Bronx native Samara Joy has positioned herself to join the likes of Sarah, Ella, and Billie as the next mononymous jazz singing sensation recorded by the venerable label. Her voice, rich and velvety yet precociously refined, has already earned her fans like Regina King and Elton John, appearances on the Today Show, the Tonight Show w with Jimmy Fallon, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS Mornings, MSNBC, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Drew Barrymore in addition to millions of likes on TikTok—cementing her status as perhaps the first Gen Z jazz singing star.

Linger Awhile introduced that massive audience to a slew of classic standards several times older than she is through her timeless, irresistible sound. In 2024, Samara won a third Grammy for her take on the Betty Carter classic “Tight” and is currently in preparation for her full-length follow-up. The New York Times praised the “silky-voiced rising star” for “helping jazz take a youthful turn,” while NPR’s All Things Considered named her a “classic jazz singer from a new generation.”

About SuperBlue
Grammy Award–winner Kurt Elling is without question today’s preeminent male jazz vocalist, renowned worldwide for his unparalleled virtuosity and flair for trailblazing artistic exploration. From his stunning reinvention of timeless standards to his own captivating original songcraft, the Chicago-based musician has fused his dazzling talents across a panoply of musical approaches.

Elling’s new LP, SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree is the follow-up to 2021’s remarkable SuperBlue. He once again joins forces with producer/guitarist Charlie Hunter and multi-instrumentalist duo drummer Corey Fonville and bassist-keyboardist DJ Harrison for a collection of new songs, surprising covers, and dynamic reinventions.

Photos: Samara Joy: Meredith Truax; Kurt Elling: Dave Stapleton

Musician photo and recording policy
No flash or professional photography allowed. No video or audio recording of any kind allowed.

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NCMA Jazz Pass
Through Thursday, May 16, 2024, or while tickets are available
All Jazz at the NCMA tickets must be purchased at one time; discount applies to both member and nonmember pricing.

• Purchasers who buy tickets to three or four Jazz at the NCMA concerts at ONE TIME receive 15% off per ticket
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• Purchasers who buy tickets to all seven Jazz at the NCMA concerts at ONE TIME receive 25% off per ticket