Christian McBride entrusted Old Folks to Samara Joy

Christian McBride speaks about jazz as someone who has seen the music close in on itself. When he introduced “Old Folks”, he argued that the genre can retreat so far into its own bubble that it forgets emotion. The track was the second single from “Without Further Ado, Vol. 1”, released by Mack Avenue on August 29, 2025.

McBride entrusted the ballad to Samara Joy. She listened to versions by Carmen McRae and Ernestine Anderson, then chose her own route to the microphone. The song, she says, may be about several people we carry with us, not necessarily relatives. McBride’s assessment is shorter: Joy can move a room.

The album runs to eight tracks and a guest list longer than some festival bills: Dianne Reeves, José James, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jeffrey Osborne, Antoinette Henry. The previous single was stranger still. “Murder By Numbers” has Sting and Andy Summers on it, which is two thirds of The Police walking into a big band carrying their own song.

The interesting part is the proportion. A big band may be the loudest possible way to say something quiet: a stage full of musicians leaving space for one voice. On a ballad, the arrangement is measured by what it withholds. When it works, the orchestra recedes and the person inside the song remains.