What is your opinion on Laufey? "Modern jazz"?

[Trot Shuffle 3,597]

From Wikipedia: "She ... describes her musical style, a mixture of jazz pop and bedroom pop, as "modern jazz"."

She's very popular with the "TikTok" generation or however you wanna call that. Like, Taylor Swift levels from what I've seen. Her popularity started in 2020, I think.

And, while I'm not 100% up to speed with the jazz community, she's stirred some controversy, with some debating if she's "true jazz" or not, along with some fans of her saying that jazz was dead before she came around. It doesn't help that Spotify placed her prominently on one of their jazz playlists before, as lots of folks were saying she could've been replaced with other people instead.

If it helps bring a young generation to listen to the established legends of jazz too, which I believe they were also in that same playlist, then I don't see why that's a loss? Seems like a win to me.

I don't agree with those "jazz was dead" statements though. If we're talking about mainstream popularity, its been stagnant at worst, but it's perfectly fine otherwise, at least underground. The billboard charts etc. have been mostly rigged anyways, for every single genre and for a very, very long time (pretty much since it's existed it's been heavily rigged to those who have the most money just like with all things in life).

Maybe it's because she a lot younger so it's easier for a young generation to relate and connect with her, who knows the psychology of that? (Which can be extended for every generation, every music artist, and so on, so forth.)

 

Anyways, this is one of her many hits:

Laufey - From The Start

Spoiler

 

Her whole discography is A-OK in my book and I wish her the best as it seems like she isn't a one hit wonder. Far from it, actually. 

It'd be amazing if she teamed up with some of my favorite DnB artists who also lean into the style that she's making. Calibre, Makoto, DJ Marky & XRS, Patife, London Elektricity, Keeno... please please please. You know you want to 

[Samurai Equine 45,936]

It's good music, but that's not jazz.  That's more like lounge music/easy listening with a coastal twist. I am sure there is a better word to describe this kind of genre, but jazz it is not.
Still, I almost don't care. I'll take anything that keeps old school genres alive with new music.

[Trot Shuffle 3,597]

2 hours ago, Samurai Firefighter said:

It's good music, but that's not jazz.  That's more like lounge music/easy listening with a coastal twist. I am sure there is a better word to describe this kind of genre, but jazz it is not.
Still, I almost don't care. I'll take anything that keeps old school genres alive with new music.

This in particular leans heavily into bossa nova, which itself I'm pretty sure comes from samba and jazz anyways. That comes from Brazil, which is probably close enough to what you're imagining. It makes sense though considering her inspirations, which includes Chet Baker and Ella Fitzgerald.

Edit: great video from Adam Neely, covering the topic

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Trot Shuffle
Added a vid

[Samurai Equine 45,936]

On 2023-11-08 at 3:15 AM, Trot Shuffle said:

This in particular leans heavily into bossa nova, which itself I'm pretty sure comes from samba and jazz anyways. That comes from Brazil, which is probably close enough to what you're imagining. It makes sense though considering her inspirations, which includes Chet Baker and Ella Fitzgerald.

Ah, yes, that's it! As much as I love bossa nova, I keep forgetting about that genre.  I do hope she goes on to be a big success and makes more music, be it bossa nova, jazz, samba, or any genre that needs more love.