Music

Live East/West

Jacqui Naylor

By Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Jan 01, 2005
Category: Jazz

As a kid, I heard — and saw — the greats of jazz. Miles Davis. Ornette Coleman. Dizzy Gillespie. Like that. Then ‘fusion’ came on the scene, and that dreadful mishmash of jazz and funk sent me screaming for the exit.

I have stayed away from jazz for three decades, drifting back only for the classics. From time to time, friends would rave about a jazz artist. I turned a deaf ear — especially when the subject was a jazz singer. For me, there is Louis Armstrong. There is Ella Fitzgerald. And, in the realm of standards, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. The rest, for me, is just so much ooby-dooby-doo.

But then a woman of proven taste pushed Jacqui Naylor on me. Worse, she insisted that I trot downtown and see Naylor perform. Talk about pushing buttons: my two least favorite activities — jazz and live performance — in one night. But….I went.

I’m glad I did. Jacqui Naylor has a big voice and a bigger brain. Her voice is somewhere between Billie Holliday and Carole King, but she can take it other places at will. And she does exactly that, for her music is unlike anyone else’s. The reason is a philosophy she calls ‘acoustic smashing’ — taking two songs that allow the words to one to be sung over the music of another. It’s a way to bridge jazz and rock, rock and standards, standards and jazz, and it’s an exciting way to present a lot of information in one, well-coordinated way.

So Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’ finds itself paired with Joe Zawinul’s ‘Mercy, Mercy.’ And ‘Blue Skies’ is overlaid on ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.’ Sounds weird, I know, but her band is first-class and, together, she and the group make smart musical marriages.

Naylor is not a one-trick pony. She also writes songs that sound like classics. She has an appealing personality and good shtick: She’s a Buddhist who’s not above telling a good teaching story. She’s young and fit and even blonde. And, for all her intensity and obvious ambition, she’s relaxed enough to disappear into the music.

This two-CD set shows Naylor to great advantage. These two sets — one at Birdland in New York, one at Yoshi’s in Oakland — are nicely balanced. I’ve cooked to this music. Typed to it. Even hunkered down and actively listened to it. In every situation, it triumphs.

I’m still skittish about jazz, and jazz singers still inspire me to hit the ‘eject’ button. But Jacqui Naylor is a brilliant exception. I tell myself that only half of what she does is jazz. And then I put her in the ‘heavy rotation’ pile. You may as well.

To buy ‘Live East/West’ from Amazon.com, click here.