Samara Joy + Pasquale Grasso

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

TIME: 11:00PM - 12:00AM (Midnight)

VENUE: Rockefeller Chapel. 5850 South Woodlawn Ave.

SAMARA JOY

Samara Joy is a true rising star. At a very young age, she has already performed in many of the great jazz venues in New York, including Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, The Blue Note, and Mezzrow, and has worked with jazz greats such as Christian McBride, Pasquale Grasso, Jon Faddis, Kirk Lightsey, Cyrus Chestnut, and NEA Jazz Master Dr. Barry Harris. 

Raised in the Bronx, Joy grew up surrounded by music. Her grandparents led a gospel group, while her father toured with gospel artist Andrae Crouch. Her home was filled with the sounds of gospel and R&B. 

Although she performed regularly with her high school’s jazz band as a teenager and won Best Vocalist at JALC’s Essentially Ellington competition, Joy didn’t truly focus on jazz until college, when she began working with jazz masters including Pasquale Grasso and Kenny Washington, who both appear on her debut recording. At that point, there was no turning back. She began to pursue her jazz studies with an intense passion, was named Ella Fitzgerald Scholar, won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, and has been rising ever since. 

She looks forward to sharing her passionate love for jazz as a uniting force and catalyst for change in the years to come. 

PASQUALE GRASSO

Born in Ariano Irpino, Italy, Pasquale Grasso began playing guitar at a very young age and studied with jazz innovator Agostino Di Giorgio. After Grasso attended a jazz workshop with world-renowned jazz educator and bebop piano master Barry Harris, Harris took Grasso and his brother, Luigi, under his wing. During the next five years, the Grasso brothers became pillars of Harris’ international workshops and soon became instructors. Eventually, Pasquale became Harris’ teaching assistant, and for the last ten years he has conducted guitar workshops in Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, Holland, and Slovenia.

In 2012, Grasso moved to New York City and quickly made a name for himself in the city’s vibrant jazz scene, playing as part of the Ari Roland Quartet and the Chris Byars Quartet, performing in clubs and at music festivals, and recording in the studio regularly. Later that year, he was named a Jazz Ambassador with the U.S. Embassy, and toured extensively across Europe, in Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Lithuania, and Ukraine, among others.

He has performed with many leading musicians of the international jazz scene, including Barry Harris, Charles Davis, Freddie Redd, Frank Wess, Leroy Williams, Ray Drummond, Murray Wall, Steve Grossman, Tardo Hammer, Jimmy Wormworth, John Mosca, Sacha Perry, Ari Roland, Luigi Grasso, Chris Byars, Zaid Nasser, Bucky Pizzarelli, China Moses, Harry Allen Quartet, Grant Stewart, Stepko Gut, Nicolas Dary, Dado Moroni, Agostino di Giorgio, Michel Pastre Big Band, Gianni Basso Big Band, Joe Cohn, Oscar Zenari, and Luca Pisani.

Grasso teaches at SUNY Purchase College of Music.

The musicians: 

Samara Joy – vocals

Pasquale Grasso – guitar