Jazz music, once considered a dying genre, has now been receiving a resurgence amongst Gen Z listeners. Many have overlooked the genre, assuming it belongs to your grandparents’ dinner parties or is reminiscent of an antiquated time. Now, one can find jazz through every element of pop culture. From the exquisite soundtrack of Oscar-Award winning film La La Land, to being the anthem of TikTok’s top trend. A revival of a rich musical style seems to strike a chord in Gen Z’s musical palette.
Young artists like Laufey, Raye, and Samara Joy have been pushing the genre into the forefront of modern pop culture. Incorporating scatting into live shows and musical symphonies into your eardrums. The presence of jazz in mainstream music seems more prevalent than ever, and young people are responding to it.
Jazz has always been a genre that has been embedded in music history since its conception. Beginning in New Orleans the birthplace of jazz, where people came to mix different genres of blues, African folk, and ragtime, eventually creating jazz music. Since then jazz has touched nearly every genre known to man, from hip hop, pop, R&B, and country. It serves as an experimental art form that bleeds into the fabric of modern culture.
Though jazz has such an exquisite and rich history, it has not always been seen as for the youth or, quite frankly, led by women.
Many today associate the genre to be likened by those who are of an older generation. When in fact the majority of the triumphant jazz artists were young artists like Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Including jazz’s new rising star, Laufey states to NPR that young people mistakenly see jazz “for older and more educated audiences” when in reality “music should be for everyone,” and she aspires that her reinvention jazz music will eventually “bring new life… and offer it to new ears that have not had access to it before.”
Now it definitely seems like Laufey’s plan to make jazz more appealing to younger crowds has been working. On Spotify, Laufey’s top song “From The Start” has over 800 million streams. She has performed two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden, with special appearances by PinkPantheress and Lin-Manuel Miranda. She has not only proven that jazz music can resonate cross-generationally but also be championed by women.
Actually, many young men online now associate jazz artists like Laufey to be more “feminine music”. It is now a status symbol for guys to listen to such romantic jazz music. These men are often referred to as “performative males,” quipping their charisma and music taste to appeal to women. Funny how our ideas of femininity can change throughout history!
Regardless, jazz lives in the vessels of modern music through the various ways it is consumed via streaming platforms and social media.
For example, British singer-songwriter Raye has dominated TikTok through her newly released song “Where is my husband.” The song is reminiscent of a Motown sound during the 1960s, bringing a modern take to an often-overlooked genre amongst young people.
In “Where Is My Husband,” Raye’s voice soars during the bridge, “I would like a ring,” creating an operatic falsetto. Many people have tried to finesse Raye’s infamous falsetto. Hence, creating a slew of pitchy and perfect performances. Even the University of Connecticut’s own women’s basketball team decided to take a chance on this trend.
While artists like Samara Joy, a Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist, bring traditional jazz standards into the ears of young people. A 60 Minutes interview piece on Samara Joy compared her to iconic jazz singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn. Her deep vibrato sways listeners into a realm of jazz that is often unexplored in modern music. Joy has shown the world that a century-old musical tradition can be revitalized within the public consciousness!
Overall, the days of swooning jazz music are not in the distant past. Jazz’s rich musical history is alive and breathing within pop culture. Young people have found resonance with a genre once thought of as dying. New artists like Laufey, Raye, and Samara Joy have been reinventing the genre to fit the various mediums people consume music today. This fluidity allows for jazz to continue its lifelong tradition within modern culture.