Jacqui Naylor Quartet

“Naylor remains one of the most superbly arresting vocalists around. “ — JazzTimes
“Naylor excels as a sensitive song interpreter with unerring intonation. “ — DownBeat
“Jacqui has a sumptuous voice, knack for scratchiness, and an ability to sweeten those bluesy bent notes. “ — Village Voice

This velvet-toned vocalist and songwriter is equally at ease singing music by Cole Porter and David Byrne as she is her own original music. Far from a straight-laced jazz purist, Naylor has made the mixing (and sometimes “smashing”) of genres and eras her stock-in-trade, gaining fans and notoriety for singing the lyrics and melody of jazz standards over the grooves of well-known pop and rock songs and vice versa. “Naylor has brought new twists to the notion of melding jazz and pop tunes – without high-tech assistance,” claims NPR.

Based in San Francisco, Naylor used her early 90’s study with renowned vocalist Faith Winthrop as a springboard to her rise as a world-class artist and band leader, recording nine albums which have made the “top ten” lists of USA Today, Jazziz and The Washington Post. In 2013, Naylor released an ode to her favorite singers with the tribute album, Dead Divas Society. On it, she interprets songs by Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughn and Nina Simone along with those by Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, Luther Vandross and others. In 2012 she was the subject of a full-length documentary film, Lucky Girl, which traced her evolution as an artist in the making of her 2011 album of the same name. The artist is currently in production of her tenth recording and Kuumbwa listeners will get a preview of the new music.

Naylor’s recordings are available throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and she tours regularly in these regions at esteemed venues, including Ronnie Scott’s London, Birdland New York,Iridium, New York, Yoshi’s Oakland, Snug Harbor New Orleans, Jamboree Barcelona, Jazz Club Istanbul Turkey, Women in Jazz Festival Germany, Bari Jazz Festival Italy, Reus Jazz Festival Spain, Monterey Jazz Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival and Center, and all Blue Note Clubs including New York, Milan and Japan.