One hundred years ago, the 1920s brought an explosion of culture. Namely, the era popularized what some call the most influential American art form: jazz. With origins in everything from the blues to spirituals to West African music, the Jazz Age combined cultures and communities. 

Though it evolved into and influenced future genres—such as crooning, bebop, R&B, hip-hop and rock—jazz dwindled in popularity over the years. However, with the emergence of new, innovative artists, jazz is swinging its way back into the mainstream.

Icelandic-Chinese singer Laufey has popularized jazz for a new era of audiences. She built her fanbase by bringing jazz, pop, bossa nova and classical styles to a younger generation. 

After a classically trained childhood that flew between Iceland, China and the U.S., Laufey began her music career in 2020 with her debut single, “Street by Street,” followed by her debut EP, “Typical of Me,” in 2021. Her debut album, “Everything I Know About Love,” was released in 2022. 

After Laufey’s second album, “Bewitched,” was released in 2023, it immediately gained recognition: it was the first album to top Billboard’s Jazz and Traditional Jazz charts just one week after release and won a Grammy for Traditional Pop Vocal Album. 

Last August, she released her third album, “A Matter of Time.” The album topped Billboard’s Independent, Jazz, Traditional Jazz and Vinyl album charts, and was nominated for another Grammy for Traditional Pop Vocal Album. 

Laufey has over 24 million monthly Spotify listeners, around eight million followers on TikTok and 7.6 million followers on Instagram.

To spread her opportunities and passion for music, Laufey founded the Laufey Foundation to provide youth music programs with equipment and financial grants.

Through personal donations, ticket sales, merch sales, brand partnerships and public donations, the organization has supported five youth orchestras across the nation.

Laufey’s fanbase is primarily composed of teenagers and young adults, including many West students.

Freshman Kate Rabe’s favorite artist is Laufey. “I started listening to Laufey in sixth grade. One day after my playlist had ended, Spotify gave me a Laufey song, and I was like, ‘I really like her.’ That’s the only artist I really listen to.”

Rabe went to see Laufey live on her “A Matter of Time” tour on Oct. 10 in Chicago. 

 “I went to the Chicago show, and our surprise song was ‘Dreamer,’ and she dedicated it to this kid named Catherine, which also happens to be my name. So in the middle of the song, she says, Catherine, you bewitched me. And I absolutely loved it, because I got to hear Laufey, my favorite artist, sing my name.”

Cassidi Tsang ‘28 has been a fan since “Bewitched” was released in 2023. After listening to that album, Tsang’s interest in Laufey’s music grew.

“I started listening to [Laufey] more and more, and I really liked her music, because it’s jazzy, but not super jazzy,” Tsang said. 

Tsang saw “A Matter of Time” on tour on Oct. 11 in Minneapolis. Tsang chose to go see Laufey live after one of her friends went to the “Bewitched” tour. 

“It sounds so much better live. It was so much fun with everyone singing,” Tsang said. 

Gallery • 6 Photos

Gianna Liu

Laufey plays guitar and sings "Castle in Hollywood" in Chicago Oct. 10.

Laufey’s music is meant for those new to jazz as well as people with a jazz background. Jazz Ensemble drummer Derick Doresca ‘26 is a prime example of the latter.

“I first discovered Laufey around 2023, when she dropped her album Bewitched. I heard her song ‘From the Start’ on TikTok, and I was like, ‘Oh, I really like this,’ so I listened to the whole album, and I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is like really, really cool,’” Doresca said. 

With 15 years of playing drumset and five years in jazz band under his belt, Doresca has a deeper understanding of the jazz influences in her music.

“From a jazz perspective, I love the instrumentation. The whole album is very simple. A lot of string instruments too, which is out of the ordinary for jazz, but there’s also instruments commonly associated with jazz, like pianos, drums, basses, things of that nature. I like the lyricism a lot too,” he said.

Even though Doresca was already a fan of jazz, listening to Laufey helped broaden his musical taste into other subgenres of jazz.

Other than Laufey, Doresca listens to Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Esperanza Spalding and Shabaka Hutchings. These artists blend jazz with hip-hop, soul and other genres to create their own blend of jazz.

“Someone that’s very similar to Laufey, I would say, is Roy Hargrove. If you like Laufey, you should listen to Roy Hargrove. He does a lot of Latin jazz, which Laufey uses in her music,” Doresca said. 

For those looking to get into jazz, Doresca recommends Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Stephen Feifke and Jaleel Shaw.