Jeff’s new novel, The Greatest Band that Never Was, is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Laufey—‘From the Start’ (65 million views)
Laufey—‘From the Start’ (Check out the audience)
Laufey—‘From the Start’ (5000 Philippinos know all the words)
Laufey—‘From the Start’ (Unplugged, without a net)
Laufey – Tiny Desk Concert
Laufey was born in 1999. She’s a Gen Z.
She’s a Time Magazine 2025 Woman of the Year and has a Madame Tussaud waxwork.
Her father is Icelandic, her mother a Chinese violinist.
By 18 she was trained in classical piano, cello and voice. She soloed on cello at 15 with the Iceland Symphony and reached the finals in two TV talent shows.
By 21 she was trained in jazz at Berklee, the best jazz school in the world.
At 22 she started writing and recording pop songs with the stated goal of bringing traditional jazz to a young audience.
In the past 3 years she’s recorded a couple of EPs, two studio albums, won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, began headlining jazz and pop festivals, and released two live symphony-backed albums from a year-long tour of sold-out arenas and concert halls.
Her third album, “A Matter of Time” is due out in a few weeks.
And she’s just getting started.
Her name is unpronounceable to non-Icelanders.
Her attire is an extension of her persona.
Her identical twin sister is a violinist and her ‘artistic director’.
Her songs are often bossa nova-flavored with urbane lyrics sung in sprung rhythms. The vibe is traditional jazz, the content is Gen Z.
“Songwriting for me is just detangling my thoughts. It’s the same thing as journaling.”
She sings like a grown-up. Her classical training shines through. Next to Laufey, Streisand sounds like a goil from Brooklyn. I find the purity and strength of her vocal production a unique treat in the pop world.
Taylor Swift, Laufey says, “has done for pop and country what I hope to do for jazz.” Her main influences include Ella Fitzgerald and Chopin. She has 8.5 million followers on TikTok. She is frequently credited with pushing jazz back into the mainstream.
I’ve been binging on this young lady for weeks now, YouTubing and Instagramming and TikTokking her like my granddaughters. Young people are refreshing. Ultra-talented, classically trained Gen Z singers working from within the jazz tradition are a reassurance and a treat, even if their subject matter is dating and waiting and ‘Why didn’t he call? Should I call him?’. Or “You took a star to bed/Woke up with me instead” (from ‘Goddess’).
And she’s just getting started.
The interweb is inundated with her official music videos, official audio videos (with lyrics and chords), big live performances, intimate live performances, very personal vlogs and all kinds of whatnots. I’ve been enjoying them all. Here are some of my favorites:
A Very Laufey Day (Spontaneous appearance; check out her rapport with her audience)
‘Santa Baby’ (with Bill Murray; couldn’t be more charming)
‘‘I Wish You Love’ (with cello solo)
‘Letter to My 13 Year Old Self’ (duet with Barbra Streisand)
For extra credit: Another excellent contemporary retro throwback to traditional jazz– SoTW 272: Vilray, ‘Do Friends Fall in Love?’ (with Rachael Price)
Amazing voice, great control, she is almost too exact musically.
But I don’t feel the passion, the emotion.
Listen to Eartha Kitt’s version of Santa Baby; sultry, sexy.
You compared her with Ella; the voice is comparable, perhaps better technically, but lacking in soul.
Very interesting SOTW, THANKS
Actually, she does not have a wax figure yet; she just appeared on the 2025 Madame Tussauds Hot 100. That list makes no promises.