Jacqui Naylor can be difficult to categorize. Sometimes she sings straight-ahead vocal jazz. Other times, she prefers a folk-rock/adult approach. The northern Californian can recall anyone, from Cassandra Wilson to Claire Martin in British jazz or Shawn Colvin depending on her mood. She is equally at home among jazz improvisers and singer/songwriters. Naylor can sing smoky jazz and folk-rock at the same time during live performances. There are also times when the lines blur. Naylor is a jazz-friendly musician, but she’s far from a strict jazz purist. She brings a wide range of influences to her introspective writing, including Billie Holiday and June Christy as well as Tracy Chapman and Natalie Merchant. This is a rare combination, but it works for Naylor, who has used each of these influences to create a unique style. Naylor’s repertoire is vast. She can be seen performing a Tin Pan Alley song right after a Rolling Stones or Talking Heads tune, as well as her own songs. Naylor isn’t a forceful or aggressive singer. She prefers to sing with restraint and understatement. Holiday and Christy were masters at this. After graduating high school in the 1980s, Naylor was born and raised in Saratoga. She attended San Francisco State University. Naylor entered the college to study marketing. However, she discovered a passion for acting and drama. After hearing Sarah Vaughan sing George Gershwin, Naylor was inspired to pursue vocal jazz. She continued her studies in marketing and received a marketing degree at SFSU in 1991. She worked for six years as Lat Naylor’s marketing director after graduating. She also studied music, and she was a student of Faith Winthrop, a San Francisco-based jazz vocal coach. Naylor’s clothing design work required her to spend a full year in New York City. She studied vocals with Shirley Calloway, mother of Ann Hampton Calloway, a traditional pop singer and cabaret performer. Naylor made her return to California in 1997. She then turned her attention to music and gave up her clothing business. In the late 1990s, Naylor was a recording artist. She recorded her self-titled debut album and released it on Ruby Star Records the next year. In the 2000s, she recorded several Ruby Star albums, including Shelter in 2003, Live at the Plush Room 2001, Shelter 2003, and the two-CD set Live East/West/Yoshi’s 2005. She also recorded the singles The Color Five (2006), Smashed for the Holidays (2007), Lucky Girl (2008), and You Don’t Know Jacq (2008). Biography by Alex Henderson All Music Guide
