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Californian singer Jacqui Naylor is blessed with one of the most important talents a musician can have – the ability to give a song her own personal touch, i.e. “she owns a song”. 

The Color Five, recorded with co-producer and co-writer Art Khu (piano and guitar), Jon Evans (bass), Josh Jones (drums) and Yoon Ki Chai (violin), marks Jacqui Naylor’s debut in Europe. In addition to five ‘acoustic smashes’ and five traditional cover versions, there are also five original compositions to really round off the album. Jacqui Naylor draws her inspiration from both Folk/Rock and Jazz. In fact, she feels more connected to colleagues like Jamie Cullum than to, for example, Diana Krall.

JazzTimes magazine compared her songwriting talents to those of a Joni Mitchell. Compositions like “Easy Ride From Here” or “Angel Of Mine” provide impressive proof that Naylor is a figure who has a lot to say. Her extraordinary musical sensitivity is also reflected in her covers of well-known hits, e.g. REM’s “Losing My Religion”. She has given this classic an imaginative and provocative interpretation like nobody before her.

Jacqui Naylor takes music to another level in the form of ‘acoustic smashing’ – which involves singing Jazz standards over Rock and Pop melodies or vice versa. The effect is to turn two songs into one – e.g. when she sings the lyrics of Rod Stewart’s “Hot Legs” over the piano riff and melody from Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island”. The seemingly effortless blend is initially deceptive, later becoming more even complicated – but never loosing its cool.

It all comes together with Jacqui Naylor: a voice that goes under your skin, first-class songwriting, extraordinary creative song-covering talents and a sizeable portion of innovation. We trust you’ll enjoy this gifted artist as much as we do!