Samara brings unalloyed Joy to Frith Street

Released in July on Michael Janisch’s Whirlwind label, the self-titled debut album from Samara Joy McLendon has proved to be one of this year’s standout vocal jazz releases. Hearing the singer live in a jam-packed Ronnie Scott’s in the company of guitarist Pasquale Grasso, bassist Mathias Allamane and drummer Alberto Chiozzi, the impressive rhythmic punch and incisive articulation she brought to the scene-setting opener ‘If You Never Fall In Love With Me’ came across with thrilling immediacy.

This was one of several cuts we heard from the debut. Others included a brace of loving nods to Nat King Cole – firstly ‘Stardust’ in which the singer demonstrated her beautiful control of the melodic line, followed immediately by ‘(It’s Easy To See) The Trouble with Me is You’ which served to highlight the singer’s completely unerring relationship with the pulse and her fabulous range.

There were also nods to Billie Holiday with an infinitely touching ‘But Beautiful’ – a vocal/guitar duet delivered in absolute pin drop silence – plus a rip-roaring ‘Let’s Dream in the Moonlight’.

The evening also provided further windows on to McLendon’s remarkable artistry – not least a commanding ‘Funky Blues’ where she adroitly interleaved references to ‘Ella’s Contribution To The Blues’ and which garnered the warmest applause of the evening.

She also managed to get the Ronnie’s audience to engage in a pitch-perfect call and response on ‘Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You’ (another song associated with Cole), provided a gorgeous vocalese based on Lester Young’s solo on ’I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You)’ recorded with the Oscar Peterson trio – which she ended with the most incredible pianissimo – and penned smart new lyrics to Fats Navarro’s ‘Nostalgia’.

For her encore, the singer turned her storytelling gifts and timbral richness to the Ellington ballad ‘Sophisticated Lady’, one of three songs she chose for the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, which she won in 2019. Ronnie’s loved it, and you felt Ellington would have too.