Singer Songwriter

Big Band Jazz

Jean Laughlin is a Chicago jazz singer songwriter whose music can inspire us all. Whenever we fear the future, embrace the present, or long for the past, her music will make us feel as though we are not alone.

“Her songs are like a
self-help book put to music.”

With her fifth release – No Easy Way – Laughlin showcases her talent, polished technique and insight as a composer, lyricist, and producer. This is Jean's fourth collaboration with gifted arranger and co-producer Jim Martin. There is a wonderful group dynamic between Jim and Jean and co-producer/sound engineer Freddie Breitberg which helped create an album full of warmth and love.

Adding to the mix, Jean is backed by a full orchestra, including top notch Chicago jazz musicians whose tasteful and inventive improvised solos enrich each piece. Thomas Yang (Chicago Musical Connection) and his masterful string section complete the orchestra which, with Jim's superb charts, help make Jean's music come to life.

Her ballads, which range in genre from jazz to Broadway musical to cabaret, touch on the everyday challenges of our lives. In her big band jazz tunes, she shows us her sense of humor as she contemplates life's absurdities.

No Easy Way is a personal inner voice that guides us through the trials and tribulations of life. It's an album that makes us want to weep from the comfort of one song and dance to the beat of the next.