Jazz Singer Laufey is Bringing the Past to the Present

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jazz singer Laufey wants to bridge the gap between the past and the present.

Today, she joins us upon the debut of her latest album, Bewitched. We discuss her songwriting process (5:20), her bossa nova-inspired piece “From The Start” (8:12), and her guiding light as a musician (12:30). Then, we walk through Laufey’s Icelandic upbringing (14:07), how fate led her to the Berklee College of Music (20:10), and the coming of age she experienced in that period (26:15).

On the back-half, Laufey reflects on the music she created in 2020 (35:10), her rapid, online ascent as an artist (37:15), and an early collaboration with schoolmate Claudia Nketia (39:50). To close, we talk about the idea of romanticizing daily life (50:40), the components of her new song “Promise” (52:25), and what she hopes for in the years to come (57:00).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm San Francisco,-songwriter Lave. For those unfamiliar, she's a 24-year-old
0:48.2	multi-instrumentalist who first came to prominence at the height of the
0:52.0	pandemic for her covers of old jazz standards, which she released via Tik-talk and Instagram.
0:58.0	It's true, her ascent was as improbable as the combination of words I just said and yet Leve, who was raised between
1:07.2	Iceland and Washington DC is an undeniable talent the rare case of someone going viral for the right reasons.
1:16.0	Coming of age in a musical household, the Icelandic Chinese artist grew up on the sounds of
1:21.1	Cheat Baker, Joe Stafford, and Ella Fitzgerald, all of whom inspired the voice
1:26.6	you'll hear throughout this episode as we play a few tracks from her new record entitled, Bewitched. It was released this past Friday on September 8th and can now be found wherever you get your music.
1:40.4	We sat with Leyva ahead of her international tour where she'll be performing across the U.S. and Europe through the fall and winter.
1:49.0	We talked about her incredible arc from making music in her dorm room to performing alongside the Philharmonic
1:55.7	orchestras, her Icelandic upbringing, and her ultimate mission to bridge the gap between the
2:01.6	past and the present,
2:04.0	introducing a new generation to the jazz music of yesteryear.
2:09.0	That's all coming up next with our guest, Leve. You're going to. Leve, a pleasure to meet you.
2:37.0	Pleasure is all mine.
2:39.0	Thank you for having me.
2:40.0	How are you doing in this moment?
2:41.0	The record is about to come out you've had some music
2:43.8	videos be released you're going to go on tour how are you feeling I feel very
2:50.3	excited you know I'm at the moment right now where there are like a lot of cool things on the horizon and I think that's one of the most exciting places to be.
2:58.0	Until they actually happen. Until they actually happen.
3:00.0	Yeah, but you know sometimes the anticipation is just as fun if not more fun.
	...

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