The Samara Lark Jazz Outfit

Fresh out of the Los Angeles Music Academy in 2004, jazz vocalist and songwriter Samara Lark migrated to the Green Mountains of Vermont. Her initiation into the Burlington music scene was an invitation to sit in with Big Joe Burrell and the Unknown Blues Band. Playing with such talented and experienced musicians was just the beginning for Samara. She soon began writing her own songs and performing solo at local venues in the area.

Samara Lark sings from the heart. Always tinged with a notion of jazz, her songs possess a feeling of nostalgia with a playful quirkiness and a sincere honesty. Her voice conveys a message of strength through open vulnerability with a sound as tough as it is tender and as spicy as it is sweet. It was the voice of Billie Holiday that first inspired Samara to sing outside of church when she was a teen. Soon to follow in her album collection were the voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone. These powerhouse female vocalists energized Samara and ignited her passion for singing, leading her to school in Los Angeles, where she became trained in several styles of music including jazz, blues, bossa nova, rock, pop and soul.

Now, eight years after moving to Vermont, Samara has immersed herself deeply within the music scene in Burlington. She currently performs regularly as a solo act and also with The Wee Folkestra, Wave of the Future, and Mildred Moody. Samara sings yearly during the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival and has been a guest artist for such local talents as Barika, Dr. Ruckus, and the Swingin’ Vermont Big Band. In 2011, she had the honor of singing with piano marvel Marco Benevento and his trio with Andy Borger playing drums (Norah Jones, Tom Waits) and Dave Dreiwitz playing bass (Ween). When she’s not performing live, Samara Lark works hard to pass on the tradition of women in music as Volunteer Coordinator for Girls Rock Vermont, a summer camp whose mission is to teach young women and girls how to empower themselves through playing music.